Journey Into The Universe
by Samayouchan
Summary: Story about Future Trunks & a totally different take on what happened to him in his time line. An old Saiyan named Haido finds himself entangled in a young man's war, & tries to save the teen from a dire situation. Dr. Gero isn't after Earth this time. Familiar characters arrive via Chapter 2!
1. Prolouge

_**Authors Notation about the story:**_

The following story I am writing deals with the Mirai Trunks aka Future Trunks and a totally different take on what happened to him…kind of. I know this isn't how things were originally, but that IS the fun in writing fan fiction! Forget the androids. They're not the ones that started the war on earth in this fan fic. All will be explained in the depiction of this story. All characters are in fact from and in Future Trunk's time line. Thanks for reading and I hope to get this finished soon. It is quite long.

_**Journey Into The Universe**_

by Samayou Productions

Prologue

Prologue:

The sounds of the ship creaking in the coldness of space raised me from my sleep. My normally spiked hair stood straight up on its own for once as I turned my head to focus on the time. I've been asleep for almost 12 hours...that's strange, even for me. As I sat up from my small cot, I could feel the stiffness leaving in my arms and hands as I stretched my biceps and fingers. It was like a cat rousing itself from a nice long nap. I felt like my legs weighed a ton each as slung them over to the side, and held my throbbing head with my hands, fingers playfully messing up my own grey hair. It was a long night, and I hadn't really caught up on all the sleep I have missed in the past 36 hours. Gun running and staying the top smuggler in this quadrant of the universe was a personal goal of mine. This type of business always took a lot out of a person, especially when doing so independently. As I stood I could feel the sharp pains on the right shoulder blade of my back stretch across every torn tissue visible to the outside. Guess I didn't totally leave the last run in with the Quarzothe's completely unscathed. Of course, they had every right to attack me, seeming that I was in fact taking their most prized monetary item.

Remembering this, I slipped on my oversized tan and blue coat that hung on the wall next to me. I reached in the in lined pocket as I sat at the pilot's seat just in front of the cot that I had called my bed for the last 3 days. I pulled out a pack of cigarettes, with a lighter accompanying it and lit one stick from the pack, enjoying every draw. We Seiyajiins were known as fighters, and if one thing didn't kill me, it was surely going to be this bad habit. I can tangle with the biggest of creatures in the known universe, being threatened until the brink of insanity, but this small stupid nicotine straw was surely going to be the end of me.

I sat back in the bucket seat, as I turned my attention to the stars, cigarette hanging slightly to the side held in its resting place on my lips. The darkness of space was endless, and maybe that's why I loved it so much. No one was way out here in the vastness to bother anyone else, and the odds of running into trouble were as much as it was to see a fish swim by the windshield. This sector of the Zarim Cascade was always quiet due to the fact that the closest port was about 20 parsecs away.

This is where I was headed, with my prized position in hand. I leaned forward and opened the compartment under the steering; revealing the small item that had almost cost me my life, let alone my ship! A pulled out this small stone, no bigger than a baseball, and marveled at its beauty. This stone alone was worth more than I could ever imagine, but I can imagine quite a bit as I've been told before. According to the Sharum Form, which is an encoded data base for all artifacts of value in this section of the universe, it was well worth enough to feed a family of 5 very well, for least 25 years. It's such an odd little diamond, with its octagon shape, the mini blue specks catching the gleams of light from the overhead bulbs on the cockpit walls. Inside was the catch of this stone, called the Eye of Siluna. This stone could power a whole star ship cruiser for a good year, if melted down and burned into its original state, which was an evaporating liquid of some kind. It's no wonder they had wanted to keep this so badly. It takes about 6 years to make only one of these, and the Quarz'es wanted to keep this one all too much to sell it to the highest bidder themselves.

Never the less, I stuck the strange diamond back in its place inside the compartment, and locked it away until its revealing. I looked at the map, and I was still about 18 parsecs from Zanria Space Port. I had some time to get ready for my huge reveal to the Nestors. I laughed to myself as I crossed my arms, letting the ashes fall away from the lit cigarette as I thought about the look on that idiot's face when I held out my hand. Ruji had been the one who protested that I couldn't handle the job, due to my old age. Sure, I didn't look a day over 35, but we monkeys always aged slowly, and at my ripe year of 56 were starting to wear on my slightly wrinkled tan skin. I didn't feel old, and stayed in great shape due to all the jobs I was taking the past 15 years that were so physically challenging. Fighting back in the day when I was younger was easier than it seemed to me now, but not as naturally. Back then I had to pay attention to where I was striking, but now it flowed gracefully as second nature when I had to use brute strength as another sense such as taste and smell. Of course, we Seiyajiins were used for force by the Aucusians for the Empire as destroyers, like dogs sent on the enemies of Cold. I looked down at my left wrist, and stared at the tattoo that had been given to me at the start of all the history. I had been sent on a mission that day, an uncharted assignment, and had missed the explosion of the meteor of our home planet. Of course, now I have learned of its true destruction, but had no desire for revenge anymore. Even as a bounty hunter slash thief I had no desire to start up another one man war.

My course was still set for the space port, and I knew I had a couple of hours before reaching my destination. I leaned forward, checking all gages and doing routine checks on all sections of my cruiser, all functioning as they should be. Now all I had to do was take a shower, and refill my guns with new magazines. I stood to my feet and stretched again, the pain scratching at my right shoulder again. I've got to get this looked at, and soon.

I walked away from the console and made my way down the hall to the mini bathroom at the back of the ship. This old heap had been through a lot the past few years, with all the battles down in Tanu. An interesting job, that one was. I never have figured out what was worth all the risks I took there. The bounty on that criminal wasn't worth that scar the Korna had received when hit with the Tanub missal. It was a handful, but the old girl had taken the hit like a pro and kept on going. Of course the ship was as I was, her age showing just a little more every day. Several patches had to be made down the sides as I noticed down the hall from where she had taken hits.

I punched the side panel with my thumb and the door to the bathroom flew upwards. As I walked stepped inside, I took one last draw on my now small cigarette, and flicked it into the toilet to the right of me. The jacket seemed to melt away as I turned on the hot water and I tossed it behind into another pile of clothes sitting in the corner, nearly taking up half the space of the bathroom. I stared at my long face in the mirror over the sink as the warmth of the bathroom started to seep into my skin. The face was still battle scared, one in particular down the left side of my face, a line extending from the top of the eye lid down to the middle of my cheek. Here I stood, studying this old Seiyajiin that glared back at me and all of 6 and 1/2 feet tall. With my silver spiky hair, locks flowing over the front of my ears down to my jaw line, and the rest of the hair tied back with some string, length lying between my shoulders on the top of the spine. A marvel of work, this fearless bounty hunter, a confidant in many galaxies to different thugs and ruffians of all power houses, named Hatake Tsuhaido, code name Haido


	2. Chapter 1

Chapter One:

Zanria Space Port was one of the roughest "gas stations" I have ever been to. If you wanted to find the nastiest bunch of hunters or the worst food on this side of the galaxy, then this place is for you. Landing the Korna was interesting enough, with all the air traffic. This place was a regular five and dime. Always on the go, always has someone important visiting, always having some huge politician making addresses from broadcasts all over this quadrant. I managed to radio in and after much deliberation with the main branch office they finally cleared my ship for a spot with the codes I supplied. Of course, they aren't really my codes, but registration is such a pain and a waste of time, why not give them the type of clearance they are looking for? Why not let them believe she's a cargo ship on a normal universal delivery? Suites me and the Korna just fine, even though the descriptions of her cargo are a times a little degrading. It keeps the law off our backs with ludicrous accusations, but that's an entirely different story all on its own.

I was cleared for a spot next to the gate, a great place for our little rendezvous to start. If something were to happen at this negotiation of the Eye of Siluna, I could easily leap over that fence, and make my way into the ship, quickly taking off without hesitation.

I loaded up with plenty of ammunition, sliding guns in holsters on my sides, and legs. I slipped a few magazines in my back pockets, and some regular bullets for the shot gun I carried on my back in a sheath. After readjusting my knife inside the leg of my knee length boot, I swung over my trademark long black and red coat, with the dark grayish buckles dangling from the ends. I strapped on the gloves I had loved to wear, the middle finger and thumb cut out so I was able to successfully handle my fire arms with a firm grip. I was finally ready to try and make this deal. There was a good amount of money on the end of this and I desperately needed to do some upgrades on the old girl. I almost forgot the most important weapon of all, and I made my way back down to the spare room, a cargo room, on the other end of the ship. I opened the door, and there it was. A furry creature, very cat like if you will. This animal stood on all fours; it's back as high as my lower thighs. She turned her head, which was more than three times the size of my own, and stared at me, this yellow and black fuzzy face of that of some type of bear. A mane of golden streaked hair feathered her face, with two huge green eyes. She leapt to her feet, and with a growl like purr I wrapped my arms around her furry head as two claw driven paws met with my shoulders.

"Ok, alright, I get it! You missed me a whole day, but I had to lock you up in here, you know that! Those patrol men wouldn't exactly let me pass through with you waving your tail at them through Narsis!" My face was nuzzled by her cold nose and snout, as she continuously purred very loudly, rubbing her head under my chin and jaw. "You ready to make some noise, my little Neko?" With a growl of joy she leapt down and stared up at me with those eyes again. Those huge green eyes are what had brought me to her to begin with back on Isley. She was only about maybe a few months old when I heard something screaming in the dead of night. I awoke from my spot and investigated to find a small furry feline, about the size of a normal dog, caught in a trap. I reluctantly went to the aid of this thing full of teeth at such a young age, and released her foot from the trap. She amazingly allowed me to bandage her injuries, and followed me back to camp. Ever since then, she hasn't left my side. This wonderful cat of which I found out later is called a Lorua, dates back to prehistoric age in her genetics. "My little Neko" I repeated. These types of animals can be both extremely dangerous, but also very dedicated and loyal.

Walking out of the cargo hold, Neko followed me at my side, my two steps equaling about a step of her own. I stopped at the arms locker for one last check on all of my weapons. I slid open a small door on the top of the locker, revealing a classic styled protector I had become very accustomed to. As the number of my guns grew, so did my use for this weapon. I took the Mussashi Katana I had gotten about 7 years ago to my visit to a planet named Earth, way out on the Milky Way Galaxy just past the ports off of Uranus. I was there on assignment to collect data for an anonymous bidder, about the planet's interactions with natives and atmosphere. Who ever was the dealer paid dearly for this long trip I took for having no knowledge of what the information was being used for. As far as I was concerned, my ship needed some desperate repairs and I had to have the funds as soon as possible. But this particular planet always had my curiosity, for the many cultures one small blue planet obtained. I visited many places and planets of my time, but none so innocent, never one so unknowing to the other worlds that were merely at their own doorstep. As I strapped the blade forged with its beauty of steel, silk and silver, I did remember of hearing of that small planet's depression, and how the Aucusians were actually waging a war on this small desolate place. I'm not sure of the details, but it seemed to me that they had found something on that planet of great value and would go to great means to get it. Recollecting on the times I spent on Earth, I slid the sword under my coat, and tied it to my side, double knotting the silk string to secure the sheath. Now, I was ready to take on the rest of the known universe.

We exited the airstrip and walked down town. , towards the many shops and restaurants that seemed to flood the streets. Who would've known that Neko was so accepted in this type of place? Of course, I would've cared less if it HAD bothered the other pilots and tourists. There was no way I was making this deal without her. Neko could be very protective when it came to a draw of a fight, and twice as lethal. She was my trump card, my ace up the sleeve, and so on. We walked in this god forsaken cold, seeming the sun for this port was non-existent, and everything was artificial. Zanria was even supported by the changing of the seasons, which by no means made any sense to me. Unfortunately we had chosen the dead of winter's chill to make this deal, and with every step into the bitter wind that iced my cheeks I regretted even agreeing to meet here. Neko, with her thick fur, was accustomed to this type of snowy weather and stared up at me with those huge green eyes that shined in the bright whiteness surrounding her. "Yes, I am freezing my ass off." I laughed as I read her mind. It seemed she laughed at me as she looked back in front of us, slightly rubbing her head against my leg. I smiled, and kept forward. I glanced down at my watch, and it was nearly an hour before I was to meet with the Nestors at the Shinlo Factory. As we walked down the street, my attention was caught by a near by display of a holovison, showing footage of late breaking news for the port. I stopped and saw the short haired female reporter explaining that a gang related incident had undoubtedly caused an explosion at a down town landing. From what I could gather (My Xaoician isn't that well, which was the main native language on this heap) there was an Imperial Cruiser that was attacked shortly after it landed for some fuel on its way home. The images shown a massive blow to a ship I definitely recognized with every aspect of detail. I was sure it was Aucusian, but I had no intentions of making my presence known to Cooler and his men. I wanted nothing of them and I'm sure at this time they wouldn't want to deal with an old warrior such as myself.

As I walked off, I turned back and took one last look at the holovison. Why I am so concerned with them, all of a sudden, I thought. Well, I had better things to worry about, like trying to find my way around these civilians for this exchange. No one was tailing me; otherwise Neko would've picked up on their scent and alerted me. I checked my GPS once more for the location, a device that was hidden away in my inside pocket, as well as my cigarettes. I roamed around and came upon a real piece of work, a broken down factory. I made my way to the front of the building, and I could feel the presence of something familiar. It was a ki power, just faint enough to catch my attention, but not enough to concern me. Who ever it was wasn't all that impressive by power alone, so I had nothing to worry over. I stepped up to the iron door, covered in snow and dirt alike. The junk lying around the door was clear evidence that this place hadn't be used for some odd number of years, and had no further construction plans in the future.

I heard a low snarl from Neko as I turned to see a figure standing above me. I stared up into the face, a man about in his mid thirties, a young one compared to me. It was the scruffy looking Ruji, one of the Nestors's counterparts. I smirked as he drew his weapon and rested it over his left shoulder. "I always perceived you to be a bit arrogant for a man of your stature, Haido-san" he said, his feminine voice echoing throughout the court yard. His black slicked hair was waving behind his neck as he stood in arrogance before me. I was slightly annoyed by this one especially, seeming that the last time we had a disagreement ended up in a super brawl.

Of course, being that warrior that I am, revealed and grabbed the katana at my side as I could feel the hairs on Neko's back rising as she continued her growling. His taste in weaponry was always as outrageous as he was. This particular choice for today was a huge blade on the end of a bo like handle, about as long as he was tall. Ruji was always a stickler for his personal touches on his arms, and this sword was no different, as I noticed the white silk tied to the base of the blade. He took one step off of the 3 story building and allowed his body to float down, his coat just below his thighs swaying behind him. He wore a light blue scarf that barely hung around his thin neck, and past his small boy like chest. He was nearly eye level with me now, descending to the ground, a firm grip still on the end of his weapon. His black dress shoes touched the icy floor gently, as he stared up at me, his head nearly up to my collar bone, with those childish blue eyes, readjusting his tanned cargo pants. He looked so young and very proper to me, but I knew the attitude behind that smile of his. "I am surprised to see you have made it back in one piece, old man" he smirked, standing one foot in front of the other as if he were trying to seem innocent to me.

"You concerns for my well being are always a marvel in themselves, Ruji" I replied, shifting my hand the katana. "Where is that cousin of yours? Still enchanting the men as usual?"

"My cousin is not your business right now, old man."

"This was always the problem I had with you, Ruji. You seem to want to try and get under my skin."

"Where is the diamond!" he demanded, gripping the handle of the sword tightly threatening to draw.

Before I had any time to reply, Neko had had her fill of this human in front of her, and leapt into action. She had him down on the snow buried under her massive paws before he ever had a clue as to what was going on. Snarling down at him, her claws dug into his shoulders, she bared her teeth nearly in striking distance of his neck. His shrieks of pain filled the area but were quickly silenced by the growls of the feline above him.

I stepped over to his head, smiling at this creature that acted on my own desires, and knelt down to stare into this man's eyes filled with sudden fear. "Do not try my patience, Ruji, or this huge animal will rip your dammed throat out, on her own account." I patted her head as she continuously snarled at him, and with one look of my face she released her claws from his shoulders. I stood to my feet watching as Neko backed away, hair still standing on her back from her excitement. Ruji scrambled to his feet, but slowly this time to not disrupt the cat again who was already anticipating another chance to strike.

"I will take that suggestion into consideration, seeming that your partner here can understand the human aspects of interaction." Trying to gain whatever level of integrity he had now lost, he straightened his coat out and knocked the snow that stuck to his clothes. "You really should put that thing on a leash, Haido-san" he griped as he bent down to retrieve his sword.

"As should they to you, Ruji, but I don't see that happening any time soon." I snapped. "Where are they?"

"It's out back behind the reactors. Come." He threw his blade back over his shoulder with a clink of the sword, and walked in front of me.

"You were always a pleasure." I walked along, not following too closely, as Neko trotted by my side, still on edge. We strolled around the corner of the building down a small path made in between the cluttered alley. There was a small shed at the end of the space, no bigger than a tiny closet would be. This had to be the entrance to where the Nestor's were hiding themselves. It had their usual dinginess to it, with the small round window broken into. As we approached the door, it swung open from the inside and revealed a very short creature barely reaching the door handle himself in height. He was a rugged looking fellow, with a stout posture and a beard growing from his chubby expression. He had a hand on his side, gripping his small gun, and smiled around his bushy mustache at the sight of us. "Shu wate` ka pruske` mon Clier-sa, eyyyy?" he laughed to himself. The only thing I was able to make out from this statement was 'shu wataka pruske' which was obviously his native tongue that meant You arrive no soon, in literal translation of Shuon. They were strange creatures, the Shuon, only standing about 3 feet and majority of the time about as wide. Their small dog like ears extending from the tops of their heads was the only thing that was dignified of their species. Over all, they were sluggish warriors, such as us Seiyajiins were, used as attack dogs just alike.

"It would seem so, my friend." I replied. I stepped inside behind Ruji, and Neko followed close by. There was little light to see by in this room, and I stepped down into what seemed to be a box of steel. The floor clinked with the weight of us 3, and shifted under my foot just a hair. I realized it was an old elevator shaft, and turned my face forward, looking to the door that I had just past through. "This is impressive..." I muttered down to Neko, who replied with a low growl as she rubbed her head against my leg. There's that ki again. I felt a small shimmer of it, just enough to grab my attention. Maybe it was just my imagination, but why would I feel as if I recognized it? It was familiar, something from way back. Whatever the case, now is not the time to be concerned. I needed to focus on this task at hand, due to the fact I was expecting a double cross with all of the personnel hanging around.

With the sound of the door to the outside slamming shut, Ruji lifted a small grey panel and switched a small toggle button. This made the entire floor jolt and it startled this old man a little, with the sudden movement of descending below. The floor was soon above me as we went down further into the darkness, the lights on the shaft wall reminding me of stars as they passed by. This was the path I had chosen in my life some 25 years ago, and I was not at all nervous. I was actually excited that this had been such a hard deal to make. There was nothing more invigorating like a challenge for an old dog such as myself to tempt the body and mind with. I hadn't anyone to care for in many years, so I could afford to take the risks such as this. I felt the fur beneath my hands as Neko rubbed her head on my fingers, and I glanced at her. She had such a trusting expression, and I caught myself smiling back at her with the same face. "Yukire mo wa iato." I said in her world's language, which meant "You're on 'back up' for me." With a loud purr, she acknowledged, and I watched Ruji's nervousness arise as she stood to her feet just inches away from his hip. "Easy, girl." I warned. "Relax Ruji; she's already had her dinner for the night."

"That's very reassuring." He snapped. The shaft jolted once again, and it felt as if my kidney's bumped into my stomach as it stopped on the bottom floor. Just where the lowest and yet brightest of the scum of the universe could be found, I thought. Right at the bottom of this space station was their dwelling spot. Things were going to get a bit interesting from here on out, as the bars slid to the right and released us from this iron cage. I reached inside my coat once more and felt the hilt of my sword, adjusting it to fit my standards. This was it; it was the deal of a lifetime. There was no turning back now.


	3. Chapter 2

Chapter Two

Chapter two

It was just as dark in this room as the other was upstairs, if not worse. I could the drips of a leaky pipe in the distance, and the creaks and cracks of things scurrying about inside the ventilation shafts. As we followed Ruji down the small hallway away from the elevator, I noticed the floors and walls were rusted. We passed several doors, and just about every one of them had some type of depreciation, giving more to their adornment. I noticed a small man sitting by a doorway, his arms and legs crossed, cradling a gun in his arms. He rested his head slightly on the barrel, but arouse when we approached. I had guessed that this was the place where the meeting would take place, but instead Ruji opened the door to the right of this one the guard was protecting. "If you wouldn't mind waiting in here, I'll retrieve my cousins for you." He said with the best hospitality.

I eyed him questionably at first, and then made my way inside through the door. I immediately sensed someone else was in the room, but Ruji was behind me, was he not? Yes, that's all I was feeling right now, just that imbecile to the back of me. Neko followed and something stirred her inside the room. "Hush, now…" I scratched behind one of her ears, and she reluctantly received it. I paid it no mind because she was always weary of new surroundings. I spotted a place in the room at which I thought would be a vantage point if given I had to defend myself at any time, so I took it. To my right was a pile of broken down boxes and crates, every one of them dirty and dusted. "How long will this take, if I may be so bold to ask?"

"It will not take long at all, Haido-san. Just please make yourself and your feline comfortable. It will only be a few moments." With that he exited the room without hesitation of closing the door.

"Well, this is going rather nicely, isn't it?" I asked as I squatted down eye level with Neko. She merely closed her eyes, much like a kitten would when it would rub against your cheek. She did exactly that, and I patted her head with appreciativeness. I stood back to my feet and reached inside my pocket to be sure I was still carrying the jewel. Yes, it was still there with my…o….my cigarettes. I pulled out the carton, with its partner aside, and took one out of the tiny box. As I lit the end of it, I took in the draw I had vowed to stop enjoying once before. The smoke filled the air as I exhaled, and the mere sight of the grayish clouds relaxed my senses. Its amazing how something so small can bring this much comfort, and with a price eventually.

As the ashes fell from my cigarette, I studied my surroundings. The room was vast, compared to the other places I had already been to. I still noticed the walls were rusted from the dripping water and the stench of mildew filled the air as well as my smoke. But still, this room was rather confined I noticed. Not a window to the outside world at all, and the chill in the air was enough to bring me to the crossing of my arms. As I brought my coat in closer to my chest, I noticed a shimmer of light on the ceiling. I realized that this light was glowing from behind me. As little light was it was, I still turned my attentions to behind me, following it to the back of the huge crates and steel rods I was leaning against.

Neko continued to be a little off centered, seeming she was nervous or even a little agitated. I walked away from the crate I was resting on and took one last draw on the cigarette, then tossed it away. My head titled to the side as I realized I DID hear someone. I had sensed it the moment I had come in, but until now I thought it was my old age trying to get the best of me. I walked around the edge of the mountain and peeked around, the light getting brighter as I moved ahead. I felt Neko's fur brush my leg as she walked on past me around the corner of this rubble.

I greeted a huge plastic tarp hanging from steel wires, blurring the image I was looking at. It felt a little colder here, in this part of the room for some reason, but that was of no importance to me right now. Instead I was interested of what was behind that tarp. I could see something on the floor, something small. As I drew closer to the slightly swaying sheets, I began to see what had aroused Neko from the beginning. It was a person for that matter, I was sure of what I saw through the stained obscure curtains. I carefully pulled back the curtain to the right me, and Neko's purr like growl echoed in this smaller part of the room.

I saw what I didn't expect at all in this room. A young boy, no older than seventeen, broken and bruised, was hanging from the wall. The high tech restraints beamed a dim yellow light as it held his hands together above his head against the bricked partition behind him. He was sitting on the cold wet floor, his legs outstretched, slightly bent upwards in front of him. He was still alive from what I could tell as I approached slowly. His bowl cut purple hair hung so far over his face; I could see the strands move back and forth from his heavy breathing. I heard the plastic sheets crinkle back into position as I was completely in the room now, staring down at this child. What had happened? Why was he here? I noticed that there was dried blood on his clothes, and some of the stains were rather dark, meaning he had bled for some time. His shirt was torn, and from what I could see he had worn some type of armor, but it was completely gone at this point. His burgundy baggy pants were ripped as well, even down to his rugged looking orange boots. There were very small strips of bandage hanging from his hands and around his arms, all of which were stained with brown and red as well.

I watched as Neko, not frightened by this boy or his incapacity to move at all, strolled right up to him and SAT down. This worried me. She never has taken up to a stranger before, and I was curious myself about the lad as it was. With her furry snout she sniffed under his locks of lavender, as if trying to wake him. I knelt down as she inspected his wounds, moving her nose from his face to his ribs. Before I even realized what I was doing, I had moved my hand from the hilt of my sword where it was sweating from the tightened grip on the silk. I watched as my gloved fingers moved away the hair from his forehead. The heat felt on my naked finger tips from his brow was enough to make me draw away. Was this his body temperature that was so warm? It was impossibly high, even for an ill person. I unclasped a button with my teeth and removed my left glove, as I checked his head again, this time with the palm of my uncovered hand. It was ridiculously hot, unimaginable that any creature at ANY state could be this sick. I was immediately angered a little bit, because someone had left this child to die in here in the cold. Why I was so concerned now of all times for some one I hadn't known, I will never figure out. His head moved just a bit after I had touched him, and he seemed to even make a slight sound under his breath when he did so. I saw him shake a little as well, and I removed my hand. As soon as I did this he returned to the previous state. It was as if it had hurt him some how by my simple gesture on his head. For a brief moment, I had witnessed a familiar expression on his face. It brought a reflective memory in my mind. I looked again; this time, taking my knife from my boot leg still sheathed, and lifted his head into the light with the blade.

I saw in this boy a face I had almost forgotten in my long years, one I had seen before at this very age. A flare of disturbance engulfed his structure, and with a wince of pain he opened one eye. He looked angry, yet so scared at the same time. Of course, if I awoke to staring at such a brutal face as mine, with my hands above my head, I would've been a bit uneasy as well.

"Well, now, you're in quite a mess, aren't you?" I asked with a sympathetic smirk.

He tried to move away, but failed but still managed to slide is head away from my knife. "Who…..who are you?" He winced in pain, this time it seemed impossible to hide as before, and his head dropped back down.

Neko's snout now had moved from his chest and back to his face again. She stood back to her feet, backing up beside me, her ears bent down. She wasn't at all upset; it was like she was listening for something. Someone was here. I hadn't noticed it until now, and cursed my old age for not feeling this presence before. I placed my knife back in my boot, and stood to my feet. The boy's heavy attempts for air were hard enough for me to divert my attention from, but I turned to see a few shadows against the plastic walk around.

Even as I turned my back to this small one, I couldn't totally take my eyes from him. I knew what had to be done. I just wasn't too sure of how to accomplish it at this time. I haven't felt this strongly about anything in so many years, even with Neko.

I started away from him, his gasps and muffled aches still clear in my ears. I placed the glove back on my hand, and took the hilt of my katana once more. I heard rustles on the other side as the shadows approached the plastic in front of me. "Stay, Neko." I ordered, and her long fluffy tail swished with a small growl. As soon as I took hold of the curtain the other flew open, Ruji standing on the other side of it.

"I see you've been wandering around again." He blinked harshly at me, back at the boy and returned to me. "You shouldn't go off alone, you know. It's not safe."

"Stop this non-sense, and get out of my face, Ruji…now." I flared with annoyance. I had endured his stupidity long enough, and was irritated at how someone of his stature tried his best to get above mine. The sound of my katana shifting echoed in the small room made him un easy, and he started to reach for his own weapon.

"Gentleman, let's be reasonable here." a low voice bellowed. I looked past Ruji, my hand still gripping my sword, and saw a man about the same height of my own. He was dressed in a long navy suit, his white tie neatly folded under the neck of his black shirt. He wore a long black wool coat, a cigar topping off the outfit that rested between his lips." We have a deal to make here. Let's not start it off with a brawl." Ruji slipped his hands away from his sword, and placed them back into his coat pockets." Glad to see you could join us, Hatake."

"Always a pleasure to be graced with your company...and normal the riff-raffs..Jerai." I released the hilt and smiled at him. Jerai Nestor, one of the two Nestor twins that were known through out this part of the galaxy. Jerai was a broad man, nearly twice my width, weighing at least in the two hundred's. He was more muscle than anything else, pure thickness with every inch toned to perfection. Not bad for a crime lord of his level of authority, because he ruled this quadrant like a king. Everyone knew when this Rienan walked in the room, it was all straight business. His light blue toned skin seemed to be so pale in this dim light.

"Let us talk in another more comfortable space." He said, gesturing to the side with his reptilian tail. A door slid open to our right, revealing a secret room, with at least two others inside. One of them I noticed stood elegantly upright from the table as the room was revealed. This one was very slender, dressed in a white suite. I realized now that this was the other twin, Alria Nestor, the younger of the two. His rectangular glasses shined from the over head hanging light as he pushed them back in place with his index finger. "Welcome back, Hatake-sama." His tone was much higher than his brothers, carrying the elegance of the presence he displayed. The other standing next to Alria was Kain, his normal ruffian body guard, which nearly ever spoke a word. He stood the tallest of us all, arms crossed as he also smoked a white cigarette. His tight black shirt fit snuggly on his chest, and the red pants suited his attire with the tan coat, fuzzy around the collar. I could see his green stands of hair move slightly that barely touched his cheekbones, as he worked on the draw.

"Shall we?" Ruji said as he stepped away from me towards the room. MY eyes darted back to the child behind me, as his little yet sudden movement caught my attention.

"Don't concern yourself with that matter, Hatake. Its just a little business, you know." Jerai stepped towards me and motioned for my presence in the room.

"What is that abo-"

"Nothing to worry about, Hatake-sama. We've gathered you here for the stone, not for some small bounty." My question was cut off, as Alria sat back down comfortably in his wooden chair, his hands folded under his chin.

As I walked away, I knew they were expecting Neko to follow me inside, their eyes fixated on the feline with curiosity. Never the less, Neko did as she was told, and stayed only inches away from the boy's side, lying on the ground, her paws curled under her. I could hear her low growls as I stepped into the room, and I took the closest chair as my seat at the end of this small table.

This room was as bad as the one I had just come from, full of rust and old age rotting at the cores of the walls. The only saving grace to it was the over head light that swayed back and forth above, a single light bulb illuminating the yellow glow in the room. Ruji slid the door shut behind me and Jerai took his place at the side of his younger brother to the left of me

"Now, let's see it."


	4. Chapter 3

Chapter Three

Chapter 3

I reached inside my pocket, felt for the stone. I touched its ragged edges and grabbed it with my gloved fingers. I reached inside my inside pocket in the lining of my coat simultaneously and pulled out a navy blue cloth. I brought the two objects together, placing the stone neatly in a bed of the cloth. I darted my eyes around the room and saw the amazement in the other's eyes as the stone glowed in the dimly lit room.

"Gentlemen, the Eye of Siluna." I'll admit, I had expected a bit more of a reaction from them, but it was satisfying enough to watch Kain's cigarette fall from his mouth as he straightened his stance.

"Fascinating, my friend. How much trouble to you put yourself through for this? Those aliens should've given you hell for it." Alria admired leaned forward. "You must share the story some day."

"I'm not one for narration, but I appreciate your compliments."

"May I?" he asked as he stood slightly in his chair.

"Of course."

He took the stone in one hand and held it to the light over head. I could see its shimmering reflection in his spectacles. "It's as if you can almost see the eye within it with the naked eye…" he continued. "It's extremely a wonder of nature."

"Well, since my brother is so satisfied with it, I guess this is the part where the fun begins. Are you still interested in the amount we had advertised for?" Jerai leaned forward, taking the stone from his twin, also eyeing the piece.

"I agree, surely it was a lot of trouble, and probably worth more than what we had told you before." Alria added.

"Well, I can agree, that small piece of rock was more than I had bargained for." I was trying to get in with the conversation. This is exactly what I wanted them to do, and expected no less. Of course they were going to try and offer me a bit more, seeming that I had already attained the piece. "As for the price, I have recently have configured the amount due to recent activities, but I think you'll both agree to the standards a bit more."

"You sorry son of…" Ruji started, but Kain's sudden glare stopped him from finishing.

"Why the sudden change, may I ask?" Alria's face flared with sudden annoyance under than elegant exterior.

"I think you'll both agree this change will greatly benefit you financially." I continued. "I'll drop off 35% of the fee, if you'll give me something in return."

"Which would be what?" Jerai asked, crossing his arms.

"The boy."

"That kid has nothing to do with this." Jerai looked as confused as I had ever witnessed him to be. "He's not worth the 35% you're dropping off the price. Why do you even want him?"

"Let's say I know the person who has the bounty on his head, and believe me you don't want to get involved with them. They're more of a headache than you realize. Trying to obtain the bounty from this particular race is a task in itself."

"I find this interesting, Hatake-sama. You know of the pitiful bounty on this child?" Alria asked, composing himself a little better than I had seen a minute earlier.

"I'm assuming there's a bounty on him, since you two have him."

"Then what makes you think that we are willing to part with him?" Jerai leaned in forward, his hands folding themselves on the table.

"In a few hours, you won't have a problem with him at all, seeming he'll be dead."

"Who gives a shit about the kid? You know something else!" Ruji accused, reaching for his weapon again.

"I'm not here to discuss my intentions with the likes of you, Ruji. I assure you that your small mind couldn't fathom the complexities as they are as it is." I snapped.

"Bastard…" Ruji drew his sword, and held it in front, his blade crossing over the table, extending the blade between the two war lords, inches away from my face.

"Surely you can understand the monetary gain from this alteration of our bargain, Jerai. You'll both benefit from this. I take the child, and only 65% of the asking price. You two get the Eye of Siluna and sever any law enforcement entanglements that may have come attached to this boy. It's a better hand than the one I was playing before."

Jerai sat in thought, and looked over to his younger twin, who also sat still. Alrai raised his hand for Ruji to lift his sword. "You are willing to take this boy, who probably as you've said before, won't live through the coldness of space, and lose 35%. I find this either extremely smart, or very dumb."

"You can either take this or I leave with the stone in hand and find someone else to whom will pay the full asking price." I reached towards the stone to take it back, but Jerai's sudden movement to stand stopped me. He stood to his feet and placed the stone in his pocket.

"Agreed." With that, he walked away from the table and towards the door. Alria's glasses shined again above his smile as he also stepped up from his chair.

"Congratulations, Hatake-sama. You've just become a rich man. I hope you don't find yourself regretting this decision to drop off on the price later on."

"Thank you." I rose to my feet and met eyes with that imbecile once again. "You can stop trying to antagonize me now, Ruji." I grabbed the hilt of my sword again, and stepped away from the table, turning towards the door. As I walked through the open frame, I saw the same guard that was sitting next to the door standing next to Neko, whose teeth were bared dead at him who was approaching. "Neko..." I called to her. She backed off, very reluctantly, even for her, as the guard nervously stepped closer. He had some sort of key in his hand, a round piece of metal, no bigger than my fist. He opened one end, revealing a USB looking connector, and plugged into the cuffs above the boy's head that held him captive to the wall. No sooner than he did this, I had taken off my legendary coat, and knelt down beside him. I wrapped it around the boy as if he was a mere child, and the cuffs discharged from the wall, but still restrained his hands together with the same dim yellow glow.

He fell limply into my arms, shaking but not awake. He was unconscious, that I was sure of. "I'm sure you've wired the money to the account we had agreed on, right, Kain?" I slipped an arm under his legs, and the other braced his neck gently. I didn't want to further injure him than he already was, and did this as carefully as I could. Neko's growl filled the room as I steadily stood to my feet, lifting what seemed compared to my size was a 10 year old boy. "There shouldn't be any problems with the transaction I take it." I asked as I turned and faced the remaining crew.

Kain, who was still in the room with me, nodded simply and headed around the plastic sheets. He was always the antisocial type, and it irritated me as usual. As I passed through the plastic tarps, another guard met me around the corner, a small rag in his hand, out stretched towards me. I looked at him curiously, my expression probably giving way to the question I was thinking. "This was on 'em when we got'em." He replied roughly, revealing a small medallion, dirty and bloodstained.

I immediately recognized it as the royal family crest, a Seiyajiin tradition, two red jewels side by side. Beneath the twin rubies there was a green Burmese, all three encased in gold. "Thank you." I replied, as I motioned for Neko to take it from him. He carefully placed the necklace in the feline's grasp, and she took it with her mouth gently. I made my way past this last remaining guard, and was met by both Ruji and Kain waiting in the dark corridor. I shifted the boy's weight in my arms as I was trying to get a better grip as well as trying to shield him from the cold that waited outside. I was going to have a hard time getting his fever to break, that I was certain. His body heat alone brought sweat to the surface of my shirt where he rested. We stepped back into the dingy steel cage they called an elevator and the sounds of the gate slamming shut echoed in my ears. I was apprehensive, wanting to hurry and get out of this place. As the shaft rose to the surface, I was more and more worried that the two guests would try and re-confiscate the boy. "Neko, Yukire mo wa iato, shoin ka le." I asked again in her native tongue, 'You're on backup for me, more than ever' with a smile. She rubbed her head gently on my side and stared back up at me with a low purr, her ears slightly bent backwards, her teeth still clamped on the golden chain of the medallion. The metal box came to an abrupt halt, and we were back inside the tiny closet space again on the ground level. The metal bars slid to the right of me, and the sudden movement on my chest diverted my attention from the front of the room.

I knew he was unconscious, but the tightening of his fist that lay against the walls of my rib cage encouraged me to believe he was awake. I glanced down, and his face was so engulfed with discomfort. He was trying to wake up, but it was as if he was being forced to stay asleep. A sympathetic smile crept across my face, and I turned my eyes back to the broken down door ahead of me. "Well, if you'll excuse me, gentlemen."

I stepped out of the elevator and the chubby Shuon was already opening the door for my leave. Just as I took one step outside into the bitter cold, the unsheathing of a blade echoed in my ears as a sword was drawn from behind. I stood, unmoving, as a blade was carefully placed under my chin. I was instantly angered, and thought of retaliation, but the sight of another blade from behind, this one was the end of Ruji's sword, made me reassess the situation. The blade curved around from behind and was only inches away from the boy's jaw. My face was suddenly flushed; the thought of these two idiots trying to fight an old man carrying an unarmed child was revolting. Neko's sudden roar filled the air as she crouched down to jump. "No..." I said down to her, my eyes fixated on the blade bearing down on the boy's neck. With a light whimper like purr, she sat back in her place on the snow, her teeth clenched tightly down on the golden chain.

"Well, I expected as much as a double cross, from the likes of you..." I sneered, looking back at Ruji. His smug face was full of pride and deception, and I hated that stupid smile of his. "But this from you, Kain, is completely surprising."

"You are going to regret trying to make a fool of me." Ruji moved the blade closer.

"Not as much as you will if you draw any closer with that blade."

"You must realize that you alone can't take on the two of us, Haido-san. You're old...and feeble...and weak, I know this". He stepped in closer, bringing his face uncomfortably close along side of mine. "You are going to lose to me eventually. One day, you won't have that feline of yours to protect you. We will settle our score, soon." he hissed. The icy wind blew a chill across the court yard, and we stood quietly as a light snow started to rain down.

I knew my ki power was rising, as it could be visibly seen with the snow and debris that levitated around my ankles. "You're only half way right with that statement. I am old." The silver spikes of hair waved two and fro from the power I was withstanding. Neko's growl was over powering any other noise at this point, her hair standing on her back. "But I am not feeble, nor weak, for that matter." I continued. "We'll settle this debacle at a later date, my arrogant friend. At this time I am unwilling to deal with those who are absent minded enough to challenge an impatient Seiyajiin."

His feminine laugh filled the air, and he withdrew his blade. I watched out of the corner of my eye as the blade under my chin was removed, and Kain sheathed his sword back at his hip. I turned my head slightly, watching Ruji smile while slinging his Bo over his left shoulder. "You really are something else, Haido-san."

"I've been told that before, and almost repeatedly."

"You are risking a lot for something you have no knowledge of." Ruji peered over my shoulder and looked at me with that smug face of his. "Or do you?"

The weight in my arms shifted once again as I turned to face him. "You are extremely tenacious." I blinked abruptly at him, and then took a step forward, my eyes still fixed on his idiot grin. "Neko..." I called out to my feline companion, whose growls were still echoing in the air. She stepped forward along side of me, her hair still erect. I could hear the squeals of the door hinge as they stepped back inside the shed from behind.

"Until then, Haido-san..." his voice trailed off. I felt a little relieved to know that he was giving up on brawling with me. I knew I wasn't able to protect this small thing that was curled in my arms, and throw a good punch at the same time. The reasoning behind all of this drama was to put me on edge that I was sure of. Ruji was only trying to get a rise out of me, and he finally had seen that it wasn't going to be accomplished today.

A sudden blast of cold wind chilled me to my bones as the snow continued to fall. There was that twitch again against my chest, and I looked down at the lad with my eyes as we stepped through the gates. He was really trying to wake himself, uttering something under his breath. I tried to listen to make sense of what he was saying, but there were no words to understand.

Neko's fur brushed by my leg, and I looked down into her fuzzy face, her green eyes still glowing from excitement. It was as if she was reassuring me that she would've done anything for me back there. She seemed to wonder why I had stopped her from doing so. "You'll get a piece of him, yet, old girl. In due time, you'll see what true bitter flesh tastes like." I laughed down to her as we turned the corner of the alley way.

I stopped at the end of the building before entering the sidewalk. I re-thought of my decision to come this way due to the sight of the crowds that swarmed the sidewalks. After looking down the long narrow path, I covered the child's' head more with the top of the coat that blanketed his small shoulders and body. The snow drifted harder now, and it wasn't going make his condition any better, if he didn't ALREADY have pneumonia. With Neko trotting along side, I cradled this mere creature in my arms as I walked down into the crowded streets, and made our way to the docks.


	5. Chapter 4

Chapter 4

Chapter 4

I could feel the stares from the security guards that were standing inside the phone booth office as I approached the front gate. In order to get to my ship, I was forced to pass this small shack. There were two guards sitting on stools behind a mounted desk on the sides of the booth, both sipping on a steamy brew.

"I apologize, gentlemen, but I'm unable to retrieve my card. Is it possible that I could give the registration code for the clearance off hand?" I was at the door of the booth by now, and the two had abruptly stopped their tasks at hand. One stepped out, his firm grip on the small computer tablet. Neko moved out in front of me, and sat between the two of us, her tail curling around to her front paws on the ground.

"What is THIS?" He leaned in forward, his fingers flowing on the keyboard as he readied to punch in the clearance code.

"It's a boy, first and foremost. A bounty transfer." My anxiety quietly built from this precarious situation. This was beginning to draw far more attention than I had expected. I could feel the motion under my coat as his hand tightened again, this time his entire body shook with it.

"We'll have to clear the code on this...cargo..." he tapped vigorously on the keys.

"My dear fellow.." I lowered my voice, forcing him closer to me. "This is one of those, oh, how do they put it; an 'under the table' agreements. Formalities at this point are nearly irrelevant." Sweet talking my way out of this predicament was going to take some skills that I was all too sure I have acquired in my long years.

"Well, sir, I really can't approve of..."

"Come now, my good friend. Its cold out here and this one's going to not make it out of the atmosphere if I don't get him to my ship." I interrupted casually, gesturing to the limp creature in my arms with the nod of my head. "Not unless you could be sure that your badge number is on my receipt."

"What.. What do you mean?" he asked curiously, still typing away, slightly looking at me.

"That way I know who to come and get the bounty from, in case he dies because of simple paperwork."

"Just clear'em" a rough voice bellowed from behind. At least a foot taller, the other one was broad shouldered; his fuzzy side burns were hanging out from the sides of his lowered hat over his eyes. "I'll vouch for him" With that, he grabbed the tablet from his smaller counterpart and began his keying. " A bounty transfer, right?" he said, eyeing the child.

"Yes, thank you very much." A simple nod to the guards, and I was on my way past the gate, only yards away from Korna.

The snow was beating down on us steadily now, so it was a relief to the chill in my bones as we stepped into the warm ship. I made my way to the front of the ship, carefully un-wrapping my coat from the boy's head. Neko shook her fur free of any snow that lay on her as the door shut tightly with a loud beep. The jingle of the necklace she gripped in her teeth echoed from the dead silence of the room. I guess the wind was blowing harder than I had thought, as my ears tingled from the warm air nipping at them. As I walked to the front of my ship, Neko trotted behind, and I looked down at the creature in my arms. He was still quivering from the wintry atmosphere, his fist tightening and releasing automatically now. The small cot behind the seat was not going to be able to function as a bed for this delicate case.

I turned to the left as soon as I entered the cockpit, and invaded a small open room. This vacant space of the ship was the infirmary, the twin and a 1/2 sized bed adjacent to the wall at the head of the bed on the far side of the room. Blankets of white and gray encased the bed, the steel side rails cradling the feather mattress. It reminded you of a bed you would find at a hospital, but without all of the heart monitors and such around it. On one side of the bed stood the silver IV pole, ready to be used if needed. The other side sat one of my favorite pieces in this ship, an old blue recliner, so worn and used, the pieces of cloth that held it together were tattered just a bit on the seat of the chair. Cabinets at the front of the room held medicines and fluid bags, bandages and every thing needed to get the job done. A sink accompanied the top of the cabinets, with gloves and soap resting on the sides. A jar of cotton balls and boxes of syringes decorated the sink as well.

I realized that I didn't have much time to get this taken care of, and to get my ship into the air. I was sure that the search for this young one was already being held on this forsaken port. My sole purpose was to get him settled and take off quickly to escape any attention from the Aucusian Empire. I walked over to the left side of the bed and gently retired him on top of the sheets of the bed. I watched as he continued to wince in pain, even more so when I began to rest his head on the soft pillow beneath his neck.

Instinctively he rose slightly in pain, his eyes never witnessing his situation at hand, from the wounds on his back. Even with the feathered mattress that tried to console the lad's aches, his injuries were not so willing to allow him to give into relief. Neko, with the medallion still clenched in her teeth, peered over the side of the rails, curious, and sensing the boy's anguish. My gloved hand found its way instantly to one of his shoulders, some what trying to restrain his movement upwards. With a cry of pain he rested back onto the pillow and bed, his head relaxing to the side. My heart stung with empathy as I watched the strands of lavender that hid a clenched face quiver as he desperately tried to bare his wounds.

My hand moved from his shoulder and I lightly rested my palm on the top of his head. "It's alright, just try to relax." The words were flowing so sympathetically from me to this child. I felt his head shift when I did this, as if he was trying to shy away from my hand. I reached under the bed and unfolded another thick blanket, and tossed it over him, sheltering him from the frigid atmosphere. "Hang in there, my friend." I turned my back to him and Neko followed close by. I needed to leave this port. But to go into space with the lad this sick, and still bleeding, wasn't going to happen either. I just needed to set a course and float around the space area just long enough to get him cleaned up and readied for space travel. Going into the coldness of space was already dangerous as it was with the fever for the boy.

I sat down into the pilot's chair, my fingers flipping various toggle switches and buttons above head on the console. The Korna arose from her sleep with a low growl of the engines powering up. The lights overhead on the walls ignited and blinked randomly. I continued to check all of the gages and ready the ship for take off when I realized that Neko had jumped into the co pilot's seat next to me.

"No, girl, I'm sorry. I have another job for you." I said as I reached over with my right hand and rubbed her furry chin. Her eyes closed as she purred from this action on her face. " I need you to go and keep him warm for me."

With that said, she immediately understood as she leapt down from the seat with a low growl. I felt the warmth of her fur as she passed by my leg, as I returned my hand back to the consoles of the ship. I could see Neko moving into the room out of the corner of my eye while still waiting for the ship to fully recharge. She carefully placed her massive paws on the end of the bed, and gracefully pulled the rest of her body up with her. She gently stepped around and rested, her paws curled beneath her, as she swung her full tail over the boy lightly. Her chin rested on the top of the child's head, the upper part of the pillow. It looked so surreal to me, witnessing this massive cat caring for this boy as if he were her own cub.

I returned my eyes back to the screens and monitors as a voice from the flight tower buzzed for my reply. With a push of a button, I was connected, voice only, this time, to the attendants to clear me for take off. "Thank you very much for the weather report, gentleman. I appreciate your cooperation."

After being sent the data over to my ships hard drive, I skimmed over the information. Miscellaneous stuff, such as wind speed, air flow, things of that nature were included in these small attention diverting reports. I signed for them and sent it back to the flight deck, giving a coded signature of course, agreeing that I wouldn't hold them for my own stupidity if something were to happen to me via take off.

I could feel the vibrations from the ship as she begged to leave the ground. A small push of the throttle and she lifted from the ground. It was a feeling of absolution as I felt the ship shake from the pressure of the surface. The Korna was an old ship, but still could give the best impressions on take off. She rose higher and higher, and when she just enough feet from the ground to clear her bows of the port, I shifted the throttle forward. She soared higher, making the space port below shrink in appearance. I left the space port just in time it seemed, when I noticed while leaving the orbit more and more ships were coming in to dock. I had missed the "rush hour" landing, probably reporters trying to get in on that explosion with the Aucusian Imperial cruiser.

Just as I circled the space port, I heard a faint noise from the room I had left the boy in. I placed in my coordinates to go into hyper space heading about 50 parsecs from this location, the drive was to engage in about 20 minutes. That would give me enough time to bandage and re-clothe my barter. I looked over my shoulder and Neko and moved her head, her nose trying to pick up a scent from the child as it moved back and forth over his chest. I stood from my seat and made my way back to the room, and Neko was already standing her feet to move away if needed. She elegantly leapt from the bed down to the floor, trying so much not to shift the blanket beneath her. I noticed he had shifted his head to the other side of the pillow, his strands of lavender still quivering as he desperately tried to withstand the pain.

I stepped over to the counter top, and opened the cabinet to find a small vile of medicine. If I didn't give him a sedative before starting, I'm sure the ordeal of me trying to treat the wounds would not make for a pleasant experience for either of us. Neko's purr filled the air as she was now beneath me, rubbing her head against my leg. I pulled what they now use as syringes now days _(but back in my prime they would have referred to this contraption as an epi pen)_ from the drawer beneath the cabinet to my left. Judging by his size and weight, and possible race factor, I suppose its best to give him a dose and a half of this stuff. That should do the trick, and keep him asleep. I'm not sure if the Nestors had drugged him, which makes me even more weary to administering this medication myself. Walking back to the bedside, of course my feline companion right behind me, I noticed the boy's breathing was getting a bit worse. His gasps were growing stronger, and the shaking was a near steady pace.

"I'm sorry, my friend, but I know this is going to benefit us both." I pulled the blanket back away from his chest.

"W-wait….ah…"

This startled me. I wasn't sure if he had just spoke or if my ears had played tricks on me again. My eyes darted away from the hand that pulled the blanket down and back to his face. The child's hair was still moving back and forth from his breathing so hard, and I could see the kid trembling now. No doubt, he's afraid. And there's no telling what has happened to him in the process of getting to the Nestors, let ALONE what they might've done in obtaining him.

"It's alright. You don't have to fear me, because I'm not going to hurt you. This is something to help you sleep so I can get you changed and bandaged." I reached down and uncovered an area on the left side of his neck, placing the tip of the pen on his skin.

"K-K-Keep away…" He was barely getting any words out with all the wincing from pain. There was that face again, the one from long ago on this young one. " Stop.."

My heart ached. I wanted to let him talk more but I couldn't let that happen now. It would have to wait. There was a lot I myself wanted to explain to put his mind at ease. But there's no time before I have to take the Korna into hyper space to have this conversation. I clicked the button on the side of the pen, and watched him attempt to resist. He sank back into the mattress, as if trying to run away but wasn't having much luck. Neko's snout peered over the bed side, then back at me, whining a bit. The boy finally resigned and allowed the medicine to work, and was docile again, still as can be on the bed. "Don't worry Neko. I'm going to try to get him back on his feet again." I said as I tossed the epi pen into the trash can at my foot. I placed my hand back on his forehead once more, then patted his head lightly. "I've _got_ to."

Ten minutes in after finally figuring out the release button on the stupid restraints, and it felt as if I was being hurried to finish. After removing what used to be a shirt, old medical tape, & gauze, I could tell that these wounds were worse than I feared. If had to make an educated guess, there were some places on his back that looked what I would call squeamish. I'm not sure if its infected or not, but a visit to an old friend in Isley was definitely going to be needed. I didn't like the idea of bringing her on board to help me with this, but I don't have much choice. I quickly cleaned with peroxide as best as possible on the back and reapplied more gauze with medical tape. More whining from my four legged friend was in the air each time I placed the peroxide dipped gauze sponge to a gash here and there. The lad's unconsciousness was torturing him it seemed, as I worked he continued to shiver, and grimace. Times like this is when I kick myself for not knowing whether the patient was allergic to anything, otherwise I would inject some type of pain killer in him. But the poor thing was just going to have to bear it for now.

The chest wasn't as bad as the back, but even still was very bruised. Its like he didn't even try to defend himself. Why? His physique leads me to believe he had the potential to fight. I gazed down to one of his hands and noted that they were also bruised, but the scratches on his knuckles weren't as old as the ones on his back. Most recent brawl wounds, perhaps? Would make more sense. So, he DID go on the offensive at one point from what I'm gathering. Knowing Ruji, and that group, most likely he was in a scrap with them before being subdued, and apprehended by them. There's so much I need to find out, but its going to have to wait.

I finished the chest, and cleaned his hands, wrapping them with gauzed tape as well. The boy's knees and shins were slightly injured, but it took mere minutes to take care of. "No need in keeping these…" I said aloud as I tossed what he on for clothing into the trash as well. I pulled the blanket back over him for now, and looked to Neko to give an order. She seemed to already be assuming what I wanted her to do, and resumed her position on the bed beside the boy. With another one of her deep purrs, she rested her tail on his body and nestled her head on top of his purple locks above him.

I left the room and entered the cockpit to check a few gauges, and timers. I had about 7 minutes left until I needed to be my pilot seat. Perfect. I left the cockpit and headed down the hall past the bathroom, and pressed my thumb on the door to the right of it. The door slid aside and I entered my quarters. The bed was half made, as usual, and random things decorated a small end table to the left of the double bed. I never saw fit to make a bed complete. No one ever entered the room but myself and at times Neko, and she doesn't seem to particularly care anyways. I've never really "made the bed". What's the point? I'm going to just pull the sheets back again the next night.

I made my way to a closet door and slid it open, revealing clothes that hung inside on hangers. I thumbed through a few before my hands landed on an old sweat shirt and matching pants. I removed the deep blue shirt and gray pants from the hangers and folded them under my arms as I closed the door. If I have to break his fever, these and a few blankets plus an ice pack would do it. I had hoped it would, at any rate. I made my way out of the room, and back up the hallway, but took a slight detour when I entered the cockpit. I walked into the adjacent room to the left into the canteen, and walked to the refrigerator. In the freezer I removed an ice pack, and closed the door. There was a spare dish towel hanging on a small magnet on the fridge, and I tucked it way under the bundle of clothes. I walked out of the room and back through the cockpit entrance. I entered the infirmary and he was as still as I left him. Still gasping for breath, aching, trying to survive the night. The poor soul's lavender locks of hair were moving swiftly away from his forehead and back again.

As I placed the garments and icepack on the counter to right of the bedside, I watched Neko gracefully remove her self from the mattress. I removed the blanket once more, his body whimpering away from the cold air. I carefully placed one arm under his neck, lifting him in the air. I slid the shirt through and over his head, and then the arms followed. Once that was done, I carefully set him back into the bed, as he vocalized his pain just a little. I slid the pants on easy enough, and returned the covers back to his chest and chin. I reached to the side where I had laid the icepack on the counter and wrapped the dishtowel around it. I gently laid I on his forehead, and watched in agony as he instantly tried to refuse it. He succumbed to it and gasped for air, lying still on his back, still quivering. "I'm so sorry, my friend, but this is only way." I spoke out loud. I thought about re-cuffing him, but what was he going to be capable of doing this sick anyways. I picked up the restraints and tossed them into a cabinet beneath the sink on the counter. "Your turn again, Neko". And with that she was back in her spot with the boy.

I'm sure that I had maybe a minute left, and left the room, adjusting the light in the sick bay to a lower setting. I took my legendary coat off and tossed it into the co-pilot seat to the left, while taking my seat in the one on the right. After looking at some few select screens, and saw it was near 30 seconds to the jump, I set my coordinates to Isley. With hyper space flight, it would still be about 2 hours. I grabbed the throttle to my left and slowly pushed it forward in timing with the count down on the screen. Once I reached to the left and flipped my ignition switch, and instantly it was lit green. I looked to my windshield of the old girl, and saw the stars morph into lines of black and white then solid white as she slammed into hyper space. This is where the real test would start for the kid, in the deep vast coldness of space travel. I'm sure if he ended up in the port, I could trust it wasn't his first trip to space. That may explain where some of this fever came from. Space travel for one the first time if not properly equipped can cause someone some discomfort. Heaven forbid if he was from a warm planet, then that would assure me that if he was a captive of a vessel, hurt, bleeding, he would be a perfect candidate for space dissolution. Such a sickness comes naturally if you're not used to being in space, so we Seiyajiins at an early age are exposed to space travel. Most of the outer realm planets make it custom to travel with infants in space so they will have a chance to build up immunity, so to speak. You can think of it as a virus I suppose.

I checked a few things on the console and switched an alarm to go off for when we exited hyper space. I reached over to my coat and retrieved my cigarettes and lighter from the inside pocket. I stood as I held it in between my fingers, striking the lighter to ignite a flame from the top. I took a draw from the cigarette and slammed the lighter shut, replacing it back inside my coat pocket. I fanned the smoke in the air away and made my way back the hall towards my quarters. I was going to need something to do for two hours while sitting in my recliner in the sick bay. I had started a book not too long ago, and I thought it might be best to finish it while monitoring the kid. I entered my room again, and flipped through the bookcase to my left as I stepped in. After skimming through a few texts, I found what I had been reading, and removed it from the shelf.

I left the room and walked back to the cockpit, and rechecked the gauges again, a bad habit of mine. I'm beginning to think that since I'm growing older, I fear I may start forgetting to check things in mid flight. I've made it a routine to recheck everything before retiring into my lovely chair. Seeming I didn't want to smoke in the same room with someone who's gasping for air, I put out my cigarette and tossed it into the trash before entering. I glanced up to see Neko, almost asleep herself, purring beside my cargo. I tossed the book onto the seat, and walked back over to the bedside. He was as miserable as I left him, still wreathing in pain as he slept. There was beginning to be little doubt in my mind now as to what lineage he was from, as I watched his mannerisms. I was still skeptical though, because I have been wrong before about remembering faces. It was impossible, really. I removed the icepack from his forehead, and walked over to the sink behind me. The dishtowel was already slightly soaked from the melting icepack to the point to where I had to wring it on in the sink. After ridding it of any access water, the icepack was wrapped again. I looked back to the pair on the bed, and smiled, walking back to it. "I've gone and let myself get caught in the middle of something, haven't I, Neko? One would think I was smarter than this…" I laughed. She flicked her left ear as she looked up at me, her head unmoving. I used my left hand to lift the hair from his forehead and placed the pack with my right hand on his brow. He shied away from it, sinking into the mattress. "Easy…" I kept my hand on the pack not letting it fall. With that he seemed to give up, and stopped almost short of my statement. "I know it's not fun, boy. You're just going to have to trust me on this one." I bent down under the bed and retrieved another blanket from the small container underneath. I half unfolded it and tried to cover the lad only, in case Neko decided she wanted to get up. As I pulled it to his collar bone, I could feel his body shaking a bit worse now.

With that, I returned to my chair, grabbing the book from the seat before settling in. I opened the book to the page where the small thin strip of metal I was using as a place holder. Another murmur from the bed diverted my attention, and my eyes darted back up. When I assessed that there wasn't more to worry over for now, I went back to my book. This was going to be a long 2 hours.


	6. Chapter 5

Chapter 5

Chapter 5

Something cold was on my hand, and I opened my eyes. I looked to my left and Neko had her snout in my lap, her nose rubbing my hand that still held the book I had been reading. There was a noise from the cockpit, a ringing. No doubt it was the alarm that I had set to note the arrival out of hyperspace. I cursed myself, because I then realized I fell asleep reading this dammed book. I stood to my feet, stretching as I tossed the book back into the recliner. More whining from Neko at my feet was heard as I yawned. "What is it, girl? Are you hungry again?" I laughed.

I gazed to the bed, and my gut sank. I'm not sure if it was panic or annoyance. "Oh, shit." It was empty, sheets tossed to the side, and the icepack rested on the floor to the right side of it. That's why she had woken me from my sleep. But if he had gotten out of the bed, in his state, then why didn't she pursue him? This creature was beginning to be more puzzling than the boy now. _Great. He's on the ship, in his condition, and I have no clue what he's done, doing, or planning._ I reached over and grabbed one of the blankets from the bed and folded it. I carried it with me to the cockpit under my arm, Neko trotting behind. A few taps on the console shut this infernal beeping, and then all was silent on the Korna. I looked out the windshield, and recognized the small planet as Isley. We were floating just outside her orbit and gravitational pull. I stood still, listening to the ship, hoping to catch something. Any type noise or step that would give me an idea of where he was would be helpful. Neko's purring was distracting me, so I led her back into the sick bay. "Stay here for me, ok?" I asked her as I patted her head. She whined a bit, but none the less sat on the floor, curling her paws under her.

I walked back out into the cockpit and down the hall slowly. I sensed his Ki power, as faint as it was, so at least I was certain he was still on the ship. I pressed my thumb on the pad to open the bathroom, and found it empty. I repeated the process for my quarters, and searched inside. After checking from closets to small compartments, I still found nothing. I pressed the pad once again, leaving my quarters. As the doors slid aside, I was met surprisingly with the edge of my own sword pointed at me. I looked down and had found what I was searching for, though the situation was more complicated than I had anticipated. He was barely standing, still trembling, as I could clearly see the blade shaking in his hands. Where he had the strength to get up, find this katana and was holding it up right was a bit intriguing. His eyes seemed hell bent on finding out where he was, as he glared at me. His breathing was the only thing that was breaking the silence between us as we stood in between rooms.

"Well, now, seems I'm the one who's in quite a mess this time around, aren't I?" I smiled.

"Who are you . . ."

"My name is Haido. I'm a bounty hunter. You're on my ship."

"You...w-work for them . . ." he said as his voice trailed off and he took a better grip on the hilt of the katana, his hands still shaking a bit.

"By them you mean the ones who had you before now?" I asked.

"Y-yes…"

"I had dealings with them yes, but I'm not in league with them other than doing business. You have nothing to worry over." I took a small step forward, and he, as I thought he would, backed away from me as I did. "I'm not your enemy."

He scoffed. "How would I. . ."

"Look at yourself. Do you think if I was your enemy that I would bother taking you from the Nestors and bringing you with me on my ship? Just to help you recover to kill you?" One more small step forward, and he was backing away from me. We both were in the hall now, his face more of a scared reaction than what it was before. I'm not sure if he was starting to believe me, or if his wounds were starting to take control again. "This new surge of adrenaline you've found is going to wear soon." I stepped forward again, he followed suit and now his back was nearly at the wall behind him.

"I… I don't know…" he winced in pain again, and the blade was lowering itself slightly. He coughed, and realized that the sword was low, and tried lifting it again. He cursed under his breath.

"You're going to have to believe me when I say I'm an ally."

"But.." It was starting to dissipate, this new found strength that he conjured up. The blade was lower than the first time he had let it fall, steadily quivering back and forth.

"It's alright. I understand you're weary. But we don't have the time to discuss this here in the hall. If you'll just trust me and come back to the sick bay, you can ask all the questions you like. You being in this cold air with your temperature at where it is isn't going to help you at all."

He slumped down slowly, and the clanking of the katana hitting the floor echoed in the ship. I knelt down with him on the floor and unfolded the blanket I had brought with me. His hands were into fists, bracing him to be upright on the floor, sitting on his knees. He hung his head down now, in defeat of this conversation.

"Are you allergic to anything?" I asked as I swung the blanket around his back, closing it around him.

"What?" he asked quietly.

"Are you allergic to anything, such as pain killers or medication?" I repeated.

"Um… no… I, I don't think so. But I don't…"

"Don't try to be silly and attempt the strong man routine. I've been watching enough to know that you're hurting." I interrupted.

"It's not that. I just don't want to …" he paused for a moment to catch his breath. " To be knocked out or anything."

"Why?" I was stunned. In this condition, what reason would he have to want to be awake to endure this pain? I know if I were in his predicament, I wouldn't want to be awake at all.

"Every time that happens… lately…. I wake up …. Somewhere else…"

Again, there I was feeling so sorry for him. This was genuine fear talking to me now. All that rough boldness when I opened the door to exit my quarters had been erased from him now. A sympathetic smile was on my face again. "You will not wake up anywhere else while you're on my ship. I give you my word. You're safe. Can you stand again?"

With a nod of his head, I helped him back to his feet. He weakly walked with me, holding onto the edges of the blanket that surrounded him. He allowed me to brace his arms with a hand on each one from behind. "What's your name?" We were just making it into the cockpit and turning to the doorway of the infirmary. He shook, as if hesitant to answer my question. "I guess I'll have to name you perhaps?" I laughed. Neko stood to her feet and let out another one of her purring growls as we entered.

Suddenly his back was almost against me as he shrank away from the room. Neko was the source of this, most likely. "What is it… and will it eat me…" he asked.

I busted into laughter. "_It_ is Neko. And Neko is a Lorua. And no she won't eat you from what I can tell so far. She's taken up with you if anything else. She's my pet. Well, companion I guess is the better word for her."

"Taken.. up with me?" he asked, his eyes now not of worry, but seemed curious as he looked at her. We entered the room and slowly made our way to the bed. Neko followed behind and then was ahead of me, and rubbed her head on the boy's right side as she purred.

" She likes you. From the moment she looked at you. You should be happy. That type of creature can be very vicious when they want to be. It's their nature. But it shocked me a bit as well." I removed my hands from his arms and pulled the blankets to the side. I watched as he allowed the right side of the blanket to fall and tried to catch it himself, but was slipping. I reached out and took it from him before it hit the floor of the ship. "I got this part, just get yourself back on the bed and lie down." He sat down, and slid his legs back onto the mattress, as I straightened out the linen I had in my hands. I turned around to find the icepack on the floor, and picked it up along with the dish towel. After placing them to the counter on the right side of the bed, I turned to see that the boy managed to pull the blankets on the bed to his chest, but that was about it. Neko was peeking over at him and his attention was fully hers now. I smiled as he carefully lifted his left hand to her nose and he waited for her to return the gesture. She purred as she brought her head to his hand, allowing him to try to pet her. "See? She likes you." I returned to the bed and unfolded the blanket in hand, placing it back into place.

"I don't think I've… seen something like… her before." He managed to smile as he petted her for a few moments, before the pain took over. He brought his hand that was outstretched back to the bed. Placing it on the right side of his rib cage, he shook for a few moments and then stopped. "Ok… that sucked…ah." He barely managed to say that, wincing in pain.

I pulled the rest of blankets to his collar bone. "You weren't exactly having the most fun when I found you then either, I'm afraid. I'll be right back."

"O-Ok.." He was starting to be more lethargic now. No doubt it took every thing he had to find that sword and hold it. I stepped over and picked the old ice pack and towel from the counter and made my way out of the room. Neko was still watching him from the left side of the bed. I headed through the cockpit and back into the canteen, tossing the now melted icepack along with the dish towel into the sink. I ran some water over them and dried the icepack with a paper towel I took from the roll that was sitting on the side. After making sure it was dried, I tossed it back into the freezer. I reached in and retrieved another icepack and closed the door. This one wasn't so frozen as the other I had used before, so the towel shouldn't be necessary. I left the canteen and walked through the cockpit again, the icepack a bit limp in my hand.

"You said you weren't allergic to anything, correct?" I asked, merely just to let my presence in the room be known as I walked in. I browsed the cabinet again to my right hunting down another syringe, placing the icepack on the counter below.

"Yes…" he weakly answered, around his harsh breathing. Neko's purring filled the air again, as she was still at his side staring at him. "But will it-"

"It might make you a bit drowsy, yes. But it isn't meant to render you unconscious." I interrupted. I had no doubt once he actually just relaxed he would fall asleep anyways, so there wasn't any need to worry him over passing out. "I do have to ask you though, and I hope I'm not intruding by being so direct." This was going to be interesting if the answer was what I was expecting. I fumbled around in the next cabinet, and found the medicine I was looking for. "But, where are you from, exactly?" I asked as I stuck the syringe in the vile.

"I..." he responded. Clearly he still felt his name was more important to be left alone than anything. I was just going to downright ask then.

"Ok, well, how about a more direct, specific question then?" I made my way back to the bed, after tossing the vile back in its place in the cabinet. "Are you Seiyajiin?" His eyes shot up at me as if I had punched him in the gut. "And please, tell me the truth because I am assuming that you are, and I don't want to over dose you on this medication."

His eyes darted away, and that look of fear was engulfing his face. He shook and sat up slightly, but the pain over took him again and rested back into the bed. "Y…Yes… I'm half." He gulped. He grunted a bit, his eyes narrowed back at me, with the attempt to be intimidating. "Why…"

I smiled. "Trust me. I'm the last person that would betray you. Especially now that you've confirmed for me of whom you are." Amazing, I had assumed his identity and was right. To think _he_ had lived and had a family somewhere was just almost relieving. The child I had protected so many years ago while the Seiyajiins were still thriving had survived that holocaust. He had moved on somewhere and lived out his days. Although given his demeanor, it was hard to think of any woman of any race that would settle with him. I laughed to myself, because whoever she is must be a card herself, tough enough to tame _**that**_ Seiyajiin.

The boy blinked at me harshly as I cleared a place on the right side of his neck, just above his shoulder. "What are you talking abo- " he stopped as I clicked the epi pen and winced in pain from the needle.

"Your father is Vegeta, correct?" This question was hard to hear. He instantly went from angry, to sad, and then scared again. He was just as readable as the book behind me in my chair. He's got his father's harsh looks when he's angry, but this sadness must be from his mother. I don't recall a day in my life when I ever got to witness Vegeta's scared reaction. I would imagine though it would mimic to looking something as to what I was witnessing now. "I recognized your father's face in you, when I found you in the Nestor's hide out. You're the spitting image of him to extents." I returned the blankets to his chest as they were before, and felt him shake again. This time I'm sure he did this from the fear of me now, not knowing how I even knew who he was. I turned back to retrieve the icepack from the counter, and could hear him still gasping a bit, breathing hardly.

"You knew my dad?"

The past tense of 'knew' stung me a bit, and wanted to press on the issue, but now wasn't the time. I wanted him to rest, without any hesitation.

"Yes. I don't look it, but I'm up in age, and was young at the time, but I was a guard of Vegeta when he was merely in his early teen years." I was back at his side now, and the poor thing's eyes were confused as ever. Bending down with one hand, I reached and removed his hair away again and replaced the slushy icepack to his head. He was still burning with fever, and as I anticipated, shied away from it almost instantly. "I know this isn't comfortable, but it is necessary." I stood firm, holding the pack, and waited for him to settle. One last murmur of pain and he was still again, and I removed my hand. "See this?" I said as I gestured to that ridiculous tattoo on my arm.

"Lost a bet?" he asked quietly.

"No." I laughed. For one in his condition, he had a sense of humor in him. "Seiyajiins in the military ranks were given these marks. We weren't allowed to reveal our names to anyone once we were enrolled. The Aucie's feared if we were sent to the enemy territories for special under cover recons, and were captured, or killed, they could find out who we were by numbers."

"Kind of like dog tags, huh." He shifted under the blankets for a moment and was still again. I could see his eyes becoming heavy. This was good, because it allowed me to believe that the injection was started to work quickly. "So he wasn't in the…"

"O no. Not your father. It was his place to rule, not to fight. Not that he wasn't capable of fighting, mind you. Get some rest, and we can talk more when you're feeling better, alright?" I responded and turned to leave the room.

"Wait…"

This stopped me from leaving, and my eyes fell on him again. He was barely awake, still trembling beneath the blankets that held him captive. I needed to get us to the ports of Miranda, on Isley, but I couldn't leave him here with whatever fears he was still having of me or my intentions.

"You're… a Seiyajiin, then right? How.. when did.. you…escape.."

"I was on an undercover uncharted mission when that tragedy occurred. It was top secret, and not on the records. I was injured after being captured." I gestured to the scar on my face from that horrific fight. That story in itself would take long to narrate, but that was for another time. It wasn't one of my favorites to talk about either to be frank. "I escaped long after I was taken, years later. Not too long after learning what had happened, I made a choice to use my new found tricks at smuggling things, including myself, to make a living." Another whimper from him and he had closed his eyes completely. "Just sleep. We can talk more once you've rested."

"Trunks…" he muttered.

"I'm sorry?" I wasn't too sure if he was just talking from the injection or it his word meant something.

"My name. You asked…me earlier… its Trunks…" With that he was gone, and the medicine allowed him to relax enough and he had slipped off into slumber. His heavy breathing was the only sound in the room now, as I looked at him sleeping. WHY.. of all the things that I can find in this vast universe, did it have to be the son of the prince I served long ago? And what in the hell happened to him, even before he was found and taken by those riff raffs? These were things I needed to find out, if I was seriously planning on hiding him from _them_.

Neko was resting at the bedside on the left, her massive paws again curled under her. I made my way out of the room and back inside the cockpit, taking my seat on the right chair. I glanced at the time clock that was on the top right corner of the screen, and flipped up a keyboard console to my left. Seventeen hundred and five was the time, and I scrolled on a monitor on my right, looking through some contact names. It would be I'm guessing around 2 hours since she would've left the office. My hope was that she wasn't too busy making rounds at the clinic this evening. Ah, there it is. With the touch of the finger on the screen, I beamed a conference call to her phone. I laughed when I heard the music playing in the speakers of the Korna in front of me, because listening to the silly pop music just seemed to fit her personality. I wonder if that small one ever had her heart swept away yet by some young male, or I still had her to myself to spoil for my own amusement. The phone clicked and I waited for her response.

"Hello! Dr. Akagi speaking?" she answered. Just as happy and carefree as I left her a year ago as I was passing through. I should really visit more often. I miss listening to her jabber on about her day at work, from crazy patients to insulting nurses.

"You're just as cute as I left you, Mei." I said kindly, then waited for her to shriek. It was always that way with Mei.

"HAIDO-KUN!" she screamed, all excited as always.

"How are you, Mei?"

"You should visit me more often you old hound! I'm great! How are YOU? "

"I know my dear."

"Are you ok?" her voice jumped from super excited to almost super worried. Of course she would ask me that. She always did.

"Yes, yes I'm fine. No need to worry over me."

"Well, then where are you? I know you're here somewhere right? Let's have dinner! I just left the hospital not too long ago and finished my rounds."

"I'm actually kind of looking at you, but more or less you're planet. I'm in the Korna just outside the orbit of Isley. As for dinner I'll settle for take out if you like." I laughed.

"You're still up in orbit! Well move that ship of yours down to the ports of Miranda, already!"

I laughed on the call. "Won't your husband get upset, with you seeing an old man like myself on my ship at the ports?"

She slightly scoffed and giggled. "Yea, right. What husband! You know my only passion is work at the moment, Haido-kun! That and visiting old friends! So move it!"

"Aw, so I still have you all to myself then."

"Always, you dirty old man. Oops! Wait! Taxi! Oh, sorry Haido-kun. Give me just a sec, will ya?" I listened to her flag a car down, inside the hustle and bustle of Miranda. It was a dog eat dog city, where if you wanted to make it, and be successful, it took hard work and a lot of effort. I tried many times to get Mei to move at least outside the city but she would never have it. She loved it.

Mei and I met years and years ago, and she was but an intern at the general hospital on Miranda. I was one of her first patients to suture she told me that day in the examining room, as she stitched my arm. I had of course, been in a slight accident on Miranda trying to apprehend a bounty there. I caught the bastard, but not before he tried to take me out first with a shard of glass he managed to find in an alley. My arm was fine and all and she released me to the outside world maybe an hour afterwards. I was still waiting on the fee's for the bounty to process, so I wandered the streets after leaving the hospital, window shopping. A few hours later that night, I heard a woman's cry not too far from me and of course me being the Seiyajiin I am, ran to investigate. I turned down a small corridor between two buildings and saw some rough neck brutes taunting a small woman. Her back was against the wall, hair wound in a ball with a writing pen. I saw her coat in hand with her purse and then recognized her as the intern I had left a few hours ago. Naturally the brutes didn't have a pleasant evening that night, after I was done with them. I walked her home that night and stopped in from time to time when I was able to check on her. We've been friends ever since.

"Sorry. Oh yea! Um, twenty third and second street please! Yes. Thank you! Wait, Haido-kun. Take out? Of course not! You're in town! We so have to celebrate! I wouldn't dream of letting you eat just some dumb old meal from a drive through!" I could see that look on her face even through a simple phone call. Her nose no doubt was wrinkled under those squared reading glasses, a look of determination most certain. But unfortunately I wouldn't be able to oblige my cute little doctor's request.

"Mei, I wish I could go out with you, but I'm in bit of a bind this evening. I'm afraid I'm in need of your help." I leaned back to peek in on Trunks. He was still sleeping, a little bit more soundly it seems now with the medicine in effect. "I wouldn't bring you in on this, since it does have some dangerous ties to it, but I can't bring this to the hospital."

"Oh? A bind?" she gasped. "The hospital! Haido! You said you were ok! What's happened?"

"It'll be easier to explain but not over the phone. You know how I don't like to talk openly on a call about my work."

" Yea, yea. So it IS work related. I got ya'. Well, can you tell me if I need to head home to grab anything?" she asked. A car horn on the call blared from the speakers. "YEA! YOU WATCH IT You JERK! Sorry Haido-kun. Traffic's getting a bit rough. Glad I'm not driving. Hmmm? No, 'Hun' that was that other drivers fault. You're fine."

"You'll have time. Remember that small kit I bought for you two years back? Do you still have it? And is it stocked?"

Another gasp from her. I was surely scaring the poor thing, heaven knows she probably thought I was the one in a predicament. I had found a doctor's carrying bag, furnished with anything she needed in case she needed to go on site to an accident in the city. I thought of her when I saw it on Nebulan, and immediately purchased it for her. I even went as far as to allow the business to inscribe her name on the small silver plate that clasped the bag together. She was so grateful for it and promised to cherish it always.

"Of course I have it, and just finished re-supplying everything actually the other day. You want me to bring it with me?" More car horns echoed the Korna. "It's at home but I'm nearly there in a few I think, well, if this traffic is steady." Her tone wasn't as happy as I wanted it to be. More full of worry than just happy to hear my voice.

"If you would, please. I'll be in the ports of Miranda in about an hour. I can meet you at the east gate if you want to have the taxi drop you off there. Don't worry so much, Mei. It's not like you not to be happy. I'm sorry this topic brought your mood down, my dear." I leaned forward, clicking gages and switches, and the Korna was back alive.

"Naaaaah. I'm okay. Just ready to see you now!" she laughed, bringing more life into the call. "An hour? Um, well, have you eaten anything?"

"No, not yet. To be honest, I just woke from a two hour nap during hyper space travel." I laughed. Boy, explaining Trunks to her when she got on board was going to be interesting. _Hi, Mei. Oh meet the child of the prince I used to be a guard for, back on my home planet before it was blown up._

"Ok Haido-kun! I'll be there as soon as I can! I'll run grab my bag and some things and I'll be at the gate. How long are you staying on Isley? You know you're more than welcome at my apartment!" The phone shuffled in her hands, from what it sounded. "Oh! Be careful on coming in on the ports, there's a bad storm brewing up here. Looks like its going to get messy! Try to get a park for the Korna maybe more inland than you usually do. Oh!" she rattled on. _Oh, how I've missed chatting with her like this_. "How's the ship anyways? You haven't let the girl get all banged up again have ya'? You're so mean to that ship, Haido-kun! I bet it needs a new coat of paint too, doesn't it? I want to pick the color next time because that icky dark green just doesn't do her justice, you know. And you always refer to her as a girl, so no WAY I would want a shirt in the shade of that dark green. You should paint her red!"

"Red? Hah hah" I couldn't contain it. I laughed as I set my bearings for entering Isley's atmosphere, as I pushed the throttle forward.

"Of course red! What's wrong with red?"

"Nothing at all, Mei." I laughed again and felt the ship being pulled into the gravitation field of the planet. "I'm going to try and stay long enough to get this issue resolved before leaving. I'm hoping it won't take maybe a week or two." There was no way I could go back into space with Trunks the way he was. I wasn't going to chance him getting worse. He was going to have to recover a bit more. A week or so would do him some good, and give him some time for those wounds to have some healing time.

"A week! Really! Awesome!" she giggled. "Oh and it's the weekend! My vacation started today too! You so have to let me hang out with you Haido-kun! I won't be a bother at all! I swear it! A lot has happened this year and I want to tell you all about it!" I heard the call click and she was back again. "Oh, that stupid intern. He's been pestering me for weeks."

"Another call Mei?"

"Yea, I'll call him back in a few." She hurried through.

"Him, aye?" Seems a lot has happened as she said. "Someone bothering you, Mei?" I didn't take well to thinking of someone harassing my young friend. That wouldn't be in anyone's best interest to do so. Especially with me on the rock now.

She busted into laughter. "No no no no. It's not like that, not at all. Its innocent attempts to try to get a date out of me. Nothing of the sort of thing that I know that's probably running through that spiky haired head of yours. If he wasn't so much younger than me I might take up his offer, but I don't want a guy that much younger than me. Anyways, I'm almost at my apartment now. So in about an hour I'll meet you at the east gates! Be careful landing that ship, Haido-kun!"

"I will. I'll see you soon, my dear. Goodbye."

"Bye!" And the Korna was silent again. I smiled uncontrollably now, and was actually happy she was still doing so well. I had decided a while back whenever I felt the need to invest in a will, which, in my state would be long from now, that little one would get it all. She's tried talking me into retirement and live with her in Miranda, on occasions. I couldn't have that now. I was old, but my body wasn't yet. Mei did however made me succumb to agreeing that when I did I would retire on the planet at least so she could visit. As charming as she was, how could I refuse her.

The ship was descending through the planet's atmosphere, and the old girl rattled at bit, but stood strong as we entered through. A few clicks on the console and my coordinates were set for Miranda. Judging from the screen on my left, it was projected to be a fifteen minute flight before I reached Miranda's ports. I set things to motion, and stuck my ship on Auto pilot to hover when we arrived within a three mile radius of the area. This ship was in need of a bit tidying up, if I was going to have a lady on board. Sure enough Mei will still chastise me about the conditions of the outside of the Korna. No use in letting her get angry about the inside too. I got up from my seat, grabbing my coat from the seat over and walked into the infirmary to check on Trunks again.

Walking over to the trash can in the room, which was full now, I saw that he was still heavily breathing, but none the less sleeping now. I grabbed the bag from the trash can and tied it together, and returned the can back to its place. I noticed that from what I could tell, he was sweating a bit, the tips of the neck of the sweat shirt being a bit darker on color. Trunks shifted beneath the blankets again, and the icepack seemed it was going to slip for a second, but never did. Neko was sleeping herself now, curled on the floor, purring away.

I left the room, my coat over my shoulder, and trash bag in hand. I entered the cockpit, of course, rechecking the stats on the screen, and resumed my way to the end of hall towards the bathroom. I looked and noticed my katana was still resting on the floor from where Trunks had dropped it, so I picked that up as well. Even for me this had a little bit of weight to it, and my mind replayed the whole scene in my head again as I walked to my arms cabinet. I guess if I were him I would have reacted the same way. Find something sharp, and be ready to make a stand some how, no matter how bad I felt. I pressed the pad, revealing my bathroom, and was disgusted that I had let it go this far. "Laundry…." I've got my work cut out for me straightening this mess out in fifteen minutes for sure.


	7. Chapter 6

Chapter 6

Chapter 6

I stepped off my ship and onto the concrete slab of Miranda's port yard, on the east side of Saerune Docks. I had already lit my cigarette and taking a draw, noticing the lightening and thunder above my head. Mei was right, there was a storm coming, and I was going to need to hurry to the gates to meet her. With all the permissions to land, flight instructions for passage, securing this stupid spot for the Korna was a pain in the ass here. The kind of guy like me had to be sure my information wasn't faulty, because security was out the nose here in Miranda. The whole deal with the ports and rental of a spot, and landing here took me nearly forty five minutes alone. In other words, I was a tad bit late.

I spun around to see Neko trotting to the open door, and I placed my hand up in the air. "Not this time, girl. I need you here. Stay and stand guard the ship." She whined but turned and headed back inside the ship as told. With a press of a button from me on the side of the ship, the door closed and I locked it behind me. I walked from the side of the ship and around a fence that enclosed our pad and was met with long open walkway that stretched out before me. I could see other ships coming to port, with a few above my head buzzing by as they left for space. I hurried my pace, and walked for another five minutes before I could even see the east gate very well with my eyes.

I saw a taxi cab parked on the curb, with two boxes sitting on the sidewalk on the other side of the gate. One last draw from my cigarette, and I tossed it to the ground, stepping it out. The closer I got I realized that this person's backside I was looking at was female, and confirmed it when she spun around with a bag and purse in hand. Her hair was just as jet black as I remembered, flowing down towards her lower back. She had brushed her bangs to the side today, a small pink flower clip pinning them to the side. Her shirt from what I could tell was tailored to fit her form, and of course, was pink long sleeved with a low v shaped neck. The jeans were boot cut, and cute sneakers she wore I instantly noticed were the ones I bought her when I was back on Earth. Another souvenir for her when I spent that small amount of time there.

"Mei!" I called out to her as I flashed my ticket to the gate guard. "I'll just be a moment." I watched the cab drive away slowly as the gate opened.

"Haido-kun! Give me a hand, would ya'?" she asked as she fumbled to get her purse strap over her shoulder, still holding the medical bag in her other hand.

I exited the gate, and looked the two small boxes that lay on the curb. "What is all this? You moving in for the week of your vacation?" I laughed as I walked up to her, gesturing them as I passed them. I was beside her now and she was already opening her arms and wrapping them around me, her bag swinging behind me. I returned her hug, but not using the force that she did with hers. I noticed she was a bit smaller than I remembered. "Mei, aren't they letting you eat at the office? I swear if I squeezed hard enough I could break you!"

She turned her eyes back up at me and that nose crinkled under her glasses. "Of course they are, silly! Maybe that's your old age getting to you again. I'm just only a half bit smaller than you remember. A girl's gotta' keep her figure!" she laughed. Thunder boomed over our heads, and she nearly jumped off the side walk in the lightening that flashed with it. "Ok I'm thinking we should hurry before we both are drenched in water!" She released me and bent down and grabbed one of the boxes from the curb, holding it out for me. "Mind carrying this for me?"

"Not at all. I can manage them both no doubt." I took the first box from her and bent down my self, retrieving the second. "You still have those shoes?" I asked as we both made our way back to the gate.

"WHAT! I wouldn't DARE get rid of these! They match with nearly everything in my closet! Plus you got them from a distant world for me! No way!" she skipped through the gate as it opened, both hands on her medical bag. "I called Ron back, and sure enough all he wanted to ask if I would like to have dinner with him on a nice soon to be rainy evening. Yea, right."

"Another poor soul's heart shattered for the evening." I chuckled. I shifted the boxes weight in my arms as we took a faster pace down the side walk. I noticed that there was an electric hot plate, and from what I could see some bags of groceries in one. "What are you planning anyways?"

"OH! Look!" she exclaimed happily as she took one of the bags from the box on my left. "I remembered!" She opened one of the bags while walking backwards, facing me. I looked down and saw a six pack of beer that I remembered we used to share some times. Then Mei opened another bag for me, and I saw a bottle of some type of wine. I shook with laughter and her face was a bit puzzled at first. "Oh, I thought you would be pleased! It's been AGES since we had fun! I've finally got you here for a full week!"

"No it's alright. I can't recall the last time I had a nice cold beer anyways. The fun's going to have to wait for a few minutes though, Mei. There's something I would like for you to take a look at first, and then we can have as much fun as you choose." I smiled. It was very nice seeing her again. I couldn't wait to have her on the Korna, blabbering on about what's happened in a full years' term. I'm sure she had done so much while I was away. I watched as her grip tightened on her bag, the silver buckle shining in the over head lights.

"Speaking of which…" She walked around me, I presume it was to look for anything out of the ordinary such as a wound on me.

"It's not me, my dear. I told you I'm perfectly fine." I assured her. She finally took a full circle and was satisfied, and resided on the right of me, walking along side.

"You better be telling me the truth, old man! Or you're seriously in trouble with me if I found out the need for my doctor's experience is for you." Her face flashed a panic as she darted her look to me. "It's not Neko, is it?"

"No, Neko is fine. You would have been proud of her performance on Zanria Space Port, though." I smirked as I recalled Ruji's face when my feline grounded him so swiftly.

Mei sighed in relief. "I brought her a present if that's ok?" She reached in her purse and pulled out a red fabric wrapped around something. After she unveiled it to me, I realized it was meat jerky and I smiled down to her. "I'll only give her just a little. It's home made!"

"Who made it?" I could see the tip of the Korna fairly distant in front of us now.

"I did, silly. I've learned to do a lot of things lately, thank you very much." Mei wrapped the jerky neatly back into the fabric and placed it back into her tiny white purse. "That's what the bags of groceries are for. I'm going to cook dinner! I learned a great recipe for- oh NO! The Korna!" With that she ran ahead of me. I figured I was going to be in trouble for the state that my ship was in. It wasn't great, but it was still manageable. Mei stood ahead of me, marveling the Korna, her head up, down, and all around. She spun around to face me again. "HAIDO! You're so mean! What did you do to her! She's got dents EVERYWHERE! Were you in a war zone or something! AH! That patch is HUGE! What in heavens name did you put her through!"

I've never met any one else more in love with my old rigid vessel other than myself, like Mei. First time I took her up above Miranda, Mei was so funny, rambling on how the city looked like stars now with the lights. I swear the child took a hundred pictures from the windshield and windows that night. "My last business dealing was a bit rough." I responded.

Her face frowned at me. "Looks like it was VERY dangerous! You really should just do as I asked and retire! I don't want to let you out of port, not knowing if I'll get a letter or a visit from you again! Why do you have to keep doing the scary deathly stuff. You're OLD. RETIRE!"

"Just because I told you my age, doesn't mean you can try to charm your way into retiring me early. Age wise, yes I'm old. But I've got life me in still, Mei. And I promise, after this visit, I will come more often in between my runs. I've missed you and your flamboyance, and you're reminding me why I used to visit so much to start with." I was ahead of her now, and at the main door, and motioned with my head for her to follow.

"Promise? And don't promise me, unless you mean it!" She said, standing still at the front of the ship.

"I promise Mei." I replied with a laugh. She was getting more stubborn by the years, this one. With a small laugh to herself, she was happy again, and walked towards me. An over head clap of thunder then however turned that walk into a run, giggling as she ran. She took the key from me and unlocked the door, pressing the button on the side. We both stepped inside the ship, and the sound of the door closing behind us echoed in the Korna. "Guess you pulled the old fifteen minute clean up, didn't you Haido?" she laughed as she looked around the ship.

"Mei, you scare me some days." I laughed. There was no fooling this one at all, because she knew my tricks better then any one in the universe.

"That patch is so big, Haido…" she remarked as we walked past it, her fingers touching the metal side of the Korna. "You've been having too much fun. Now that we're on the ship, can you tell me what's going on?" Those eyes, the bluest I've ever seen, confused but still happy to see me. We were at the junction crossing in the cockpit, and Neko stepped out from inside the infirmary greeting us.

"It's rather hard to explain, but I think you'll understand my reason of what I've done once I've had time to try and articulate everything." I stepped inside the room to the left of me, inside the canteen. Mei and Neko both followed inside behind me as I placed the boxes on the counter in the middle of the room. I tossed my gaze back to Mei who was now kneeling down beside Neko, petting her head and ears.

"Well, I'm all ears." She laughed as she opened her purse to retrieve the jerky, no doubt. "I've heard all KINDS of stories from you before, Haido-kun! And I've loved every one so far, so I'm really interested in this one." Neko's purrs echoed as she sniffed the jerky and carefully took it from Mei's tiny hand.

"Neko, stay here girl. Too many in the infirmary will only make it crowded." I gestured her to move into the canteen and pointed to the room adjacent to back wall. The small den with the couch and love seat would be a nice place for her to rest while Mei and I would be in the sick bay. She trotted by Mei, the jerky in her teeth, and her tail flicked to the side as she made her way. I looked back to Mei, and there was that look of panic again. I placed a hand on her small shoulder as I passed her, walking out of the canteen. She followed as I made my way through the cockpit, a flash of lightning illuminating the room even more. I stepped inside the infirmary and off to the side, allowing Mei to walk into the room. Her eyes widened as we both were looking at Trunks, lying still on the bed breathing heavily.

"Is this a bounty?" Mei asked as she made her way to the bedside.

"Not entirely. I found him when I went to make the business deal I mentioned earlier on Zanria Space Port."

"Haido… he looks horrible. He's so young. How long has he been breathing like this?" She placed her bag on the counter top to the right of her, and was back to Trunks. I watched as she removed the icepack from his head, and placed her small hand on the side of Trunks's neck. She drew back having the same reaction I had back in that basement when I had touched his forehead.

"Since I found him over three hours ago, and I'm sure he's been _that _way for a while." I answered her from before, my back resting in the door frame. "His wounds on his back are not very helpful either." I moved away from my spot and reached in the cabinet to the right, fumbling for the vials I used earlier, so she could see what I had injected him with. I turned around and watched as she grabbed her purse, and pulled out some type of hair clip, I presumed.

She brought her hair together, and clipped it at the base of her neck into a pony tail that hung loosely behind her head. "Did you give him anything?" She was back at her medical bag, digging around for something.

"I gave this to him about three hours ago, and then a little more than the recommended dosage of this here about an hour ago." I answered her, placing them accordingly on the counter to the right of her bag.

"Why did you give more than the recommended on this one?" Mei asked, taking one hand from the bag, grabbing the second vial from the counter. She removed her other hand to adjust her glasses with a finger on her face. "And HOW MUCH more, oh my gosh Haido-kun! This is-"

"He's half Seiyajiin, Mei." I interjected. She stared at me, dazed by my answer.

"But I thought you told me that there weren't anymore around a long time ago? And how do you even know that he is?" She looked at me with those eyes, the one's I had seen when she looked at my arm so many years ago. They were sympathetic, but concerned at the same time. She darted her gaze back to Trunks, and then returned the vials to the counter. A bright flash again from the storm through the small windows in the room filled the infirmary with the thunderous boom that seemed to shake the Korna herself. I told her of the Zanria Space Port dealing with the Nesters, and how I came across Trunks in the process as she removed more medicines from her bag. Mei only stopped once or twice during my story to look at me, especially when I mentioned the almost double cross with that idiot and his partner. As I continued on about getting past the security guards, Mei poked a syringe into one of the vials, and placed the two back on the counter. She pulled out some square like object from her bag, one I didn't recognize at all. She noticed my brief pause in my speech when she retrieved this, and smiled.

"I can use this to test his blood for any infection. You can think of it like a transportable lab." Mei explained, removing a cap from one of its rounded corners. She pressed it gently on his arm, and clicked the small square on the top of the object. I continued on about the measures I had taken before hyper space as the little square filled itself with a small amount of blood. Mei removed it from his arm, and pressed a button or two on the bottom of the contraption she held. She shook it vigorously a few seconds, and placed it on the counter top. This was the Mei I was still trying to get used to, this Doctor Akagi mode. She was so serious, but still smiling as she worked. The Mei I was used to seeing was a bubbly little girl, who I was well aware of her age, but never seemed to act like it. She always reminded me of how the normal high school girls would act. But the Mei before me, as I watched her remove her stethoscope from her bag, was the doctor I first met so many years ago before earning her degree. "Can you help me a second? I want to see one of the wounds on his back."

I immediately walked around to the left side of the bed, as Mei gently removed the blanket from Trunks. We both watched him shake from this motion, and I carefully rolled him onto his side. Trunks made that face again, the one that made me think of his father, as he winced from this sudden movement.

"W-What is it?" One eye was barely open, and this surprised me that he had awoken so suddenly. His words were enough to make Mei stop for a second.

"It's nothing. You're alright. I've got a friend of mine looking you over. She's a doctor." The words were flowing out of me again, trying to reassure him of his safety.

Mei had an angelic look to her now, as she gently lifted his shirt from over his back. "I'm Mei. Its okay, I'm not going to hurt you. Can you tell me how long you've been like this?" She carefully removed one of the larger bandages from his back and peeled it away from his body. Her facial expression shifted from angelic to shock as she studied, which didn't really make me feel better, to say the least.

Trunks drew his arms inward, his hands made into fists as he shook. "I..I'm not sure. I don't know how long I've been out…" he answered meekly.

Mei replaced the bandage, moving his shirt back into place. She placed the stethoscope on his back and listened a moment. "Probably best to leave him on his side. He seems to be able to have a better chance at breathing easier this way, Haido-kun." She remarked as she took the ear pieces from her head, allowing the instrument to hang around her neck as a necklace. "I'll give him something for the fever. We can leave the ice pack on his neck if we have to." She turned back to her bag, and I returned the blankets over him, Trunks shifting away for a moment.

"He mentioned earlier that he wasn't allergic to anything, if that helps, my dear." This information would be useful to her. Mei picked up her mobile lab and studied it a second, her expression continuing to be filled with concern. My curiosity was sky rocketing. "Mei?" I calmly asked.

"Well, he's not having fun, both outside and inside his body. His blood levels are showing signs of Septicemia that's developing from the wounds on his back. He must have been like this for a few days, at minimum. He's lucky to be alive at his point, but then again, factoring in that he's half Seiyajiin doesn't shock me that he's still managing." She looked back up from her gadget and gazed at me, and giggled slightly. No doubt I was making a facial expression of complete unaware of this prognosis's meaning. "He has blood poisoning, from severe infection."

"That…can't be…good." Trunks muttered, his muffled words escaping from him as he buried his head deeper into the mattress.

"It's not, sweetie." Mei kindly responded, reaching for the syringe she filled from before. The rain echoed on the hull of the ship as the downpour began outside. I watched her press the pen to his lower neck and clicked it, sending what ever she had chosen for medicine flowing into his body.

"Is that life threatening, Mei?" I asked quietly, noticing as Trunks grabbed the edge of the blanket quivering.

"It can be. But this should stop it from developing any further. I'm going to give him some extra antibiotics too. I'm glad I brought some fluids with me." She answered silently. I didn't recall her bag including anything of such nature, so this puzzled me at first. It must have been something she decided to add herself, once her supplies ran out the first time. My clever cute little doctor was always a step ahead of these things. "You never finished the story, Haido-kun." She smiled back at me, as she pulled out a bag of fluids, tubing included. "I'm surprised you wanted to take the risk of two hour hyper space flight with him this sick."

"It was a risk that needed to be taken, to get to my most trusted doctor in the universe." I smiled back her. "You'll be shocked to know, however, he managed to get up and find my Mussashi Katana when we jumped out of hyper space."

"What, you fell asleep?" Mei laughed, making her way around the bed. I moved out of the way and back to the doorway, resting against the frame again. She took his closest hand, and stuck the needle inside, wrapping tape around it. "I'm telling you, you old goat. You need to give up and retire."

"Unfortunately, yes, I fell asleep."

Her giggling was as charming as ever, and she had a right to do so. I was still kicking myself for my unpronounced nap from before. She hung the bag above her head on the silver pole, and gazed back at Trunks. "You're right, though. That's a bit surprising."

"Damn thing was heavy…" Trunks muttered.

"I bet!" She laughed. "Go on ahead back to sleep. You'll need to rest some more." Mei walked back to the counter on the other side, retrieving the ice pack, and placed it on his neck.

"But..." he started, but stopped to shy away from the bitter coldness of the thing he hated most. That pack wasn't the easiest thing to endure, but he was dealing with it a bit better now then earlier.

"Just try and relax. Trust me. You're 'like' in the safest place anywhere, here with Haido-kun." Mei reassured him swinging the blankets over his shoulders.

"Thank you." Trunks closed his eyes, and drew the blankets closer to him. It seemed he was resolving his issue of worrying and heeding her advice. A slight cough from him was heard, and we watched as he gripped the sheets tighter, concealing his head deeper. I took my eyes from him and back to Mei, watching as she was fumbling for another medicine from her bag. She filled another syringe with something, and walked to the IV pole again, injected the top of the bag, releasing what she had found with a click of the pen.

"I really wanted to visit you Mei, but certainly not under these terms. I'm truly sorry for bringing you in on this, as dangerous as it may be." Every move she made vexed me at my choice to bring this in her life. The last thing I had wanted from the start was to put her in harms way, as I was doing now by involving her.

She smiled back at me, tossing the empty syringes in the trash can next to her. "He's not _that_ threatening, Haido-kun." She laughed. "He can barely speak, so what makes him so dangerous?"

"It's…not me…" the voice beneath the heavy blankets managed out. "It's the people…"

"I thought I told you to sleep." Mei smiled.

Trunks moved and rolled to where his hands were both pressed on the bed. He tried to push himself upright, but failed, falling limply back down.

"You both…I…I have to leave. I can't stay here." His whimpers were hard to miss as he spoke. "If they find me here, and find out that you helped… you have to release-"

"You're not a prisoner of mine, boy. You're more than welcome to leave anytime that you wish." I interjected. His eyes were fixated on me in surprise.

"Haido-kun?" Mei was confused now just as Trunks seemed to be.

"If you can get up on your own will, and walk out of the doors of this ship on your own, there isn't a thing I can do to stop you, is there?" I knew damn well he wasn't capable of this act, and there wasn't a way that he could try none the less. Trunks shrunk back into the bed, gripping the blankets trembling. "But that's the problem, isn't it?" I stated boldly. All was quiet in the room, Trunks's heavy breathing the only thing heard, along with the rain beating down on the Korna.

"They'll kill you…" his voice trailed off, as Trunks hid his face into the pillow, his body shaking. "I don't want anymore blood on my hands. I can't bear it. "

"As long as you are on my ship, you won't have to deal with that, as hard as it is to believe. You're going to have to take my word for what its worth, Trunks. I can't help you if you don't trust me." I didn't even realize that I had moved from my spot on the door frame and was at the bed now, my hand gently placed on his head. I don't know what is was that he recalling to bring the tears he was shedding beneath that pillow, but it was too hurtful for him to be remembering such things right now. Stressing about the past was irrelevant. "I protected your father under much worse conditions years ago, and this uneasiness towards me is not necessary." I glanced back up to Mei, her hands clasped together hiding her mouth, eyes filled with distress. "Do as Mei asked of you. Get some sleep. You will be exactly where you are now when you awake."

A long pause was heard, and he finally answered me. "Ok." One last shuffle and he was still again, shivering from the cold. Mei clasping her bag shut made a small pop sound, and the noise echoed in the room. We both left the room together, Mei entering the cockpit before myself, and into the canteen. I stepped over to the boxes I had placed on the counter top in the center of the room, and reached in one of the bags inside.

"What am I missing out on here, Haido? You protected his father?" she asked as she washed her hands in the sink behind me.

"That makes two of us, my dear." I removed the carton of beer bottles from is plastic cage. "I don't know what has happened to him so far, but I do know however WHO he is." I continued as I walked to the refrigerator.

"Which is who?" Mei blinked at me, drying her hands with a paper towel. She tossed the used item beneath the sink in the cabinet below into the trash can that hid there.

I sighed deeply, removing one beer bottle from the carton, and placing the rest inside the appliance that stood before me. "I can tell you what I'm sure of, and then of what I am assuming." I answered, shutting the silver door of the refrigerator. "I'm sure of that he's the son of Vegeta, the prince of the Seiyajiin race, who obviously escaped that horrific ordeal of the planet being destroyed." I reached inside the drawer to the right of me, removing the bottle opener." I'm also sure that who ever it is that Trunks is running away from is very dangerous." I took a moment to lift the cap from the beer bottle, and tossed the cap into the trash can beneath the sink.

"How do you know who ever is after him is dangerous? Well, other than the fact that he's so injured, obviously?" Mei replied as she starting removing the items she brought along with her from the boxes on the counter. From what I could see, she had grabbed ingredients from home, a few small Tupper ware bowls individually of flour, garlic cloves, and some time of greenery of which I can't identify at the moment. She also had some type of beef in some sort of plastic wrapping.

I took a sip of the cold brew inside the glass bottle and sighed. "It's because if you can make a Seiyajiin run away from you, then that's a serious opponent. If Trunks is anything like his father, which I'm gathering he DOES have some of Vegeta's traits, Trunks should be well able to fight, if he's had proper training." Another sip from my bottle, and I made my way around the center counter and took a seat on the near by bar stool. "I'll have to admit though something about his wounds bothers me." I watched as Mei placed the hot plate onto the counter to the right of the sink. She plugged it into the electrical socket, and flipped a switch on it.

"What's that?" Mei asked as she grabbed a bottle of olive oil, from what I could tell, from the box.

"His father was not a runner. He stood his ground. He never ran from a fight. Now giving Trunks the benefit of the doubt, and his actions with my sword earlier, I'm getting the impression that he is exactly the same way." Another sip of this ice cold beverage, and I remembered why we liked this brand of beer so much. The taste was undeniably the best I had ever found anywhere on this rock. "My guess is Trunks didn't bother defending himself which is more peculiar."

"But why wouldn't he try? I mean, sure that explains a lot of the bruises on his back and chest, but what about the gash? Also he did have some scratches on his hands, Haido." Mei responded as removed a skillet from the bottom of the box, and placed it onto the heating hot plate. This WAS odd, my little doctor cooking. I stared at her as she untwisted the olive oils cap and rained a small amount on pan, then picking the plate back up and twisted her arm around to which I was assuming to cover the inside of the pan. With that, she replaced the skillet on the hot plate, and reached above her head to the cabinet above. "Oh, you still keep the plates in this cupboard here, right Haido?"

I chuckled a bit, and took another swig of the beer. "Yes, my dear. Same kitchen set up as always, since the last time you were on board with me. What are you cooking anyways?"

"You didn't get rid of that rice cooker, did you?" Mei smiled as she grabbed a huge plate from the stack, with an accompanying bowl and placed them on the counter the left of the sink.

"Of course not, that was a gift from you, Mei. Plus as you said, it comes in very handy when I'm alone and need something easy to cook." I stood up and reached under the very counter I was sitting at, and removed the small rice cooker from its spot on the shelf. "I've still got some rice if you need that for whatever you're making, Mei. I'm more than happy to help with the meal. You have brought so much from home."

"I figured you would still have plenty left over, so I planned on using it." She winked and smiled at me with a slight giggle.

"Am I really that readable for you, Mei?" I laughed. It's amazing that she remembers everything.

"What? I know that you just tend to eat out when you're on the go!" Mei stuck her tongue out at me playfully, and began opening the small containers of ingredients. "But back to the conversation, Haido-kun! I mean from what I saw he had to have fought at one point." She reminded me as she started mixing the ingredients into the bowl.

"Well, I would presume that Ruji and those bastards probably had some sort of brawl with him before they were able to completely subdue Trunks. That makes more probable sense. It wouldn't astonish me if that gash was caused by Ruji's own blade." This thought angered me a bit. "If their scuffle had actually taken place, then Trunks would've been in that room for days."

"Not necessarily, Haido-kun. Trunks is very lucky that you found him when you did. I would guess that he was in that room, twenty four to maybe even thirty six hours, minimum. It doesn't take very long for him to have infection develop, given what ever the conditions of the area, temperature, open wounds, and so on." How she can rattle off medical terms and analogies while handling, of all things, raw meat, is a forte all in its own category. Mei finished unwrapping and rinsing of the food and placed it on the plate beside her. "Oh hand me that wine bottle, would ya?" she asked, gesturing to the box in front of me. I did as asked and even stopped to grab a glass from the cupboard when I gave her the bottle. "OH! I need a measuring cup, thank-. . ."she stopped to laugh as she saw I was handing her a wine glass instead of what she assumed I retrieved.

"Is this not what you needed?" I asked, laughing a little myself.

"Well, not NOW anyways, Haido!" she giggled. She reached beyond me to find the item she needed, poured about a cup and doused the bowl with wine. I took the wine bottle back from her and poured a tiny bit into the wine glass, placing it next to her on the counter top. "Why, thank you very much. All dirty old men all think alike. Try to get the nice little lady drunk, huh?"

"For heaven's sake no, Mei. Besides . . ." I placed the wine bottle inside the refrigerator, and grabbed my beer from the table top. "You're not finished cooking." Her laughter was more than enough to make me smile. "Mei, I thought you said at best it would take a few days for that 'semibemia' to set in? Why were you guessing just twenty four to thirty six hours minimum?"

She nearly fell over laughing while placing the meat inside the bowl to batter it. "It's septicemia, not that! I'm also taking into account the older wounds as well. A few places looked older, where I'm assuming you cut the darker brown bandages from, are a cause of the bacteria occurring in his blood stream. It's not just the gash that looks so bad that's the main source. The gash only sped up the process along further, which is why he's damn lucky you came along. Otherwise Trunks would've probably died down there over night."

My heart dropped again to shutter at the thought of him perishing there, with those riff raffs, who intentionally left Trunks there. Those bastards probably could have cared less, even knowing there was a bounty on him. I stopped drinking my beer, and placed the bottle on the counter, staring out blankly. _Why haven't I thought of this before?_

"What is it? Haido-kun? Hello! Planet Miranda to Haido, is anyone there!" Mei said waving a long spoon around in front of me. She must have taken notice to the idea I was having.

"A bounty! That's why the Nestors had only bothered to try to nab Trunks! There's a bounty out on his head. If I look up the reports for new bounty legislations I can find out who's exactly after him." I stood to my feet and grabbed my beer back from the table top. I nearly ran out of the canteen and plopped down into my pilot's seat, placing the beer bottle on the left seat as the lightening still flashing from the storm that rammed the Korna outside. A few clicks on the screen, and I was pulling up the bounty registers from the area of the space port. My fingers rolled each picture to the left as I looked, scanning for Trunks's face. After going through about fifteen of the registered bounties, I found one listing by his name with no picture to accompany it. Judging by the date and time stamp, it was taken down only a few hours ago. This struck me off, considering that he was obviously in my custody, and I had not reported that he was found. My eyes darted to the name of the individual who listed the bounty. "Damn." It was listed anonymous, of course. I sunk back into my seat, grabbing my beer from the left seat. Another thunderous boom from the storm outside echoed and rattled the ship as I took another sip of my cool beverage.

"Well? Did you find out who was after him? Oh, and dinner's almost ready." Mei was standing at the corner of the door way entering the canteen, her wine glass in hand looking at me.

"No, it was listed anonymous."

"Ew! That sucks!" she replied.

"Guess I'll just have to wait until Trunks is able to explain things himself. One thing I found very strange about it." I took another swig of the beer. "It was listed as "obtained" around the time I left Zanria. That bothers me."

"Hmmmm." Mei walked over to the seat beside me and plopped down. "You don't suppose those Nestor guys reported you or anything?" She also took a sip of her wine, and made a funny face that was too obvious to miss. "Wow. Almost forgot what this wine tastes like!" she laughed.

"No. They have too many entanglements themselves to bother revealing their own location by reporting a bounty in. And if they had planned on cashing Trunks in, they would also have done so through another out source." I smelled the air, and located whatever Mei was making in the canteen. "That smells wonderful! What is it?"

"It's a wine marinated beef stir fry. Its only got a few more minutes to sauté and we can eat." She replied, smiling back at me. She gazed back out of the windshield of the Korna and stared at the storm outside as it continued. Another sip from her glass and she peeked over to my side of the console. "So, that steers the ship, right? The throttle?" She asked making a slight hand gesture to the throttle in front of me.

"Yes. You want to fly the ship one day?" I laughed. "Maybe I can schedule a flying lesson while we're here for you."

"Oh no. Don't I have to have some kind of license for that type of thing?" Mei stood to her feet and started towards the door of the canteen, so of course I candidly followed.

"Flying the ship herself is easy. Take off can be a bit tricky. And Mei, when have I ever been in need of an authentic license for anything." I found my way back to my seat on the barstool and plopped down. I watched as Mei set her glass on the counter in front me, and returned to the pan on the hot plate. She lifted the lid, and I could only assume the food was to her liking after she turned the hot plate off afterwards. "Once you get the Korna in space, you can pretty much just set in your coordinates and auto pilot to where ever you want to go. She's not that terribly difficult to handle. I'm honestly shocked you've never asked to take her up one day as much as you love the ship."

Mei grabbed the plate from earlier and walked to the rice cooker that was to the left of her on the same counter. "I was just curious is all, I think." I watched as she spooned out a gob of white rice and dropped it on the plate. I realized she was preparing a plate for me judging by the amount she was placing on the plate, and stood to my feet. I made it to the sink beside her, and opened up the bottom cabinet, tossing the now first empty beer bottle into the trash can, closing the cabinet afterwards.

"Here, now you don't have to do that." I reached above my head and grabbed another plate for her. "I can get that for myself, my dear. You're my guest on my ship, not a waitress."

She shook her head and flashed me that cute smile of hers. "Nope! Tonight's my treat, Haido-kun! And we're so going to have some fun! I've got so much to tell you about!" She pushed past me and retrieved some meat from the hot plate's pan, grabbing up several pieces. After filling the plate almost full, she whirled around and extended the plate out to me with a giggle. "Here you are! This is yours! Ya' might wanna stick some salt or pepper on it though."

"I'm sure its perfect, Mei." We swapped plates and I made my way to the small circular table further inside the canteen. I watched out the corner of my eye as she filled her plate with food as well, and then made her way to the table to join me. On the table in front of us inside a large cup that served as the center piece was filled with chopsticks, and I leaned in forward retrieving a pair for myself as well for Mei. There was much to discuss over dinner, and I'm sure I was going to enjoy every bit of the conversation.


	8. Chapter 7

Chapter 7

My head was almost swimming when I opened my eyes. It was early morning aboard the Korna, and I was sitting up right on the couch that I laid upon. I looked to the left of me and saw Mei sleeping soundly on the loveseat, curled up in a ball. I stood to my feet, stretching a bit, and made my way to the love seat. I gazed down upon my little doctor, and yanked the small throw blanket from the back of the love seat, spreading it over her. I took the wine glass from the coffee table before her, and made my way to the canteen through a small door way ahead of me. I tossed the glass into the sink and then opened the cabinet to see the damage. Of course. I killed off the entire six pack of beer she had brought, seeing the bottles that filled the trash can underneath the sink. If I recalled, we both were talking until we both were so drunk we passed out in the small living room quarters. A buzzing sound from the entrance of the Korna echoed in the morning air, and I made my way to the ships console. I ran past it and looked inside the sick bay, making sure that Trunks was still there. He laid there, seemingly unconscious, and I darted for the entrance way of the Korna. Who the hell was trying to enter the ship at this hour was beyond me and I intended to find out, hailing the ship at this hour in the morning. I finally made it to the doorway of the ship, breathing heavily from the brisk walk I made, and punched the small square to the right. Instantly I scowled at the receiving individual. " CAN I HELP YOU?" I yelled.

What happened next wasn't what I had expected none the less. Faster than I can explain, I was hit in the gut by a strong hard fist and thrown heavily against the near by wall. My head hit harshly against the wall behind me, and I lost my vision quickly. I was met with something circular around my neck, which sprouted semi circular things that wrapped around each of my hands, and brought them simultaneously behind my back and clasped bindingly together. Something else emerged from this gadget, striking & forcing me to be adjacent to the wall behind, rendering me helpless. I struggled to get away, but it seemed I was stuck and trapped to this wall. I looked up and saw a face accompanied with wildly spiked black hair I had almost forgotten from long ago. _What the hell was going on_. The figure leaned down and peered at me. He was wearing armor similar to what Trunks had left of when I found him, a white chest plate with brown padding around the abdomen. Beneath it he also wore a form fitting blue suite that extended up around his neck as well as his arms and legs. His hands were covered by white gloves that extended almost to his elbows, and white boots that reached the middle of his shins. To top it all off, a red cape draped his shoulders pinned together in front on his collar bone, and was long enough to be inches away from the floor.

"Where is the boy?"

"Ve-Vegeta-sama" I managed to get out. Why was he acting this way? I remember the man to having a short fuse as far as his temper was concerned, but this wasn't right!

"Where is the BOY!" he cried out at me again, eyes hard and cold.

"What the fuck is going on?" I demanded. I had no clue as to why Vegeta was here, or how he found my ship. "What has happened to . . .?"

"NO! STOP!" a female voice cried as Mei entered the hallway of the cockpit.

"NO! Mei! Run away!" was all I could manage out. I couldn't have her involved in this. Never the less she was more in this as much as I wanted. She stood in the middle of the cock pit, staring down the most powerful Seiyajiin I knew to be living. He stared at her, his intentions unknown. The closer he drew to her the more I struggled to gain my freedom from the restraints that held me captive.

She backed away from Vegeta, and was nearly at the hull of the ship. "What…what do you want from us?" she begged as her back was against the ship.

"I seek the boy you harbor…" he heartlessly replied.

"Leave them alone!" a voice called from the right, and I saw Trunks wrap his arms around Vegeta as he bull dogged him, sending them both hurling past me. Impossible! How could they fight at a time like this! How can Trunks attempt to fight in the condition that he was in at the moment? Before I knew it, Mei was at my side as the two continued their battle. Shocks filled the air as she tried to remove the restraints from my neck with her hands.

"I…eh…it won't let me…. I can't get it off, Haido!" she shouted.

"STOP! Don't try it anymore, Mei! It's ok!" I struggled against the volts of lightening as she tried to remove the restraints. The two tumbled past us again, and Mei grabbed the collar of my shirt, shuttering as she sat on the floor next to me.

"What's happening, Haido!" she screamed.

I started to try to console her, but a thunderous noise ramming the side of the Korna diverted my attentions from Mei to the front of the ship near the entry way to the sick bay. Vegeta had slammed Trunks into the door frame so hard it shook the interior itself. Trunks was pinned against the wall, but not with out effort.

"Not a good way to start a morning, kid…" Vegeta uttered, holding tightly to one of Trunks's wrists and neck.

"I . . . didn't . . . start it … " Trunks managed out as he tried to pry his opponent's hands from his neck with his free hand, and pushed his captive arm towards Vegeta. "They have nothing to do with this. Let them go." I could see Trunks flinch in pain a bit as he said this.

"I'm afraid I can't do that. One of them is Seiyajiin. He gets a free trip with us." That was a bit hard to hear from Vegeta. So he _did_ realize who I was and yet still attacked? I must have been staring at them for a few seconds, because Vegeta's head jerking sideways towards me caught me off guard. "You're old fashioned tattoo gave you away, my friend. Must have been a part of the high ranking military ops, when they were still around, weren't you, old man?"

I cursed under my breath. None of this was making any damn sense! I remembered him to be a bit hardened, but why of all things would he attack his own son? A Ki power drew me back in to reality. I gazed up at Trunks and watched his hair sway in the air as he was raising his power up. "Trunks!"

"Ah, I don't think so, boy. You're not getting the luxury of that." Vegeta swung around with Trunks in hand and tossed him against the other side of the ship behind them, and Trunks crashed against the wall not too far in front of where Mei and I were, closer to the entrance of the canteen. With a cry he slid down, sitting on the floor, his back against the ship, holding his head. After shaking his head a bit, Trunks placed his palms on the floor and raised himself back to his feet. But there wasn't a thing he could do when Vegeta quickly punched Trunks in the chest, and the boy was back against the wall of the ship yet again. Another left hook from the powerful Seiyajiin sent Trunks slamming into the side of the navigation console at the front of the Korna. It was like watching a grown man toss around a small kid.

I heard growls from behind me as Neko entered the area, the hairs on her neck raised, teeth bared. I jerked my head away from the fight and called out to her. "STAY! No, Neko!" She blinked those huge green eyes at me, giving me the impression she was thinking the very same thing I had been thinking since I found myself trapped against this stupid wall. Another bang and shake of the ship, along with a wail of pain from Trunks regained my concentration to the fight to my right again. Vegeta towered over him at the left side of door frame, still near the entrance of the canteen. Trunks was back on his hands and knees again, this time trembling from trying to keep himself upright. The boy reached to his left, grabbing a ledge of the door frame, trying to pull himself back up. I pulled my hands away from each other behind my back, striving to break away from this wall, and of course, failed as the small volts from this damn contraption zinged all over me. Mei withdrew from my shirt with a small shriek of fright by my sudden act. I darted my eyes back to Trunks, only to witness him falling to the floor, also failing his ambition to stand, and lye on the floor on his left side. Then the unthinkable was developing in front of me. "MEI!" I watched helplessly as my small cute little doctor ran forward past me towards the fallen and the warrior Seiyajiin. By the time she had gotten to them, Vegeta had the kid by the collar of the shirt he wore with his right hand and Trunk's back was against the wall, Vegeta's left fist raised.

As little as she was, she was tiny enough to squeeze herself in between Trunks and Vegeta, her back shielding the boy. Vegeta was a bit caught off guard when he realized his fist wasn't careening to meet with a boy's face, but a face of a small woman. He instantly stopped his punch, just mere inches from her small head. Mei's eyes were shut, waiting for the impact that never occurred. When she grasped at the fact that this huge man wasn't and didn't hit her, she opened one eye and looked up at him. She was full of fear for maybe a few seconds, then "Haido" came out of her. She was enraged, staring up at him. "Stop this right now! Killing him on this ship isn't getting him to who ever you want to take him to! He CAN'T fight back!" she shouted up at Vegeta as she adjusted her glasses with a finger.

Vegeta blinked hard at her, still gripping Trunk's shirt behind her. "He chooses to fight me and then not defend himself. That's a disgrace to the engagement itself." he bellowed out to her.

"He's sick! Even if he wants to fight you, OBVIOUSLY he can't! Are you that THICK that you fail to see that?" the small doctor persisted.

"Mei! Don't provoke anything!" I yelled at her. It was bad enough that she was in between the two of them, but even I knew the Vegeta from years ago would not take kindly to such words.

"What are you speaking of, woman!" Vegeta looked past her and back to Trunks, who wasn't even looking at anything at the moment. From what I can tell, Trunks had passed out from the last blow to the head when Vegeta had pinned him there.

"I'm a doctor, and that is why I am here." Mei continued. As much as I didn't want her to give him any more details about herself, asking her to stay silent was like trying to get blood from a vegetable. "He has blood poisoning and without treatment he can die. Haido asked me to come to the ship to see if I can help him."

Vegeta scowled as he looked away from Trunks, and gazed back to Mei. "How in the hell did he manage to get that? Eh, never mind that. Move away."

"Not unless you tell me that you will let me to continue treating him, or I'm not moving!" Mei interjected as her nose wrinkled up again.

"Fine, I need him alive anyways, but you'll do so at my discretion. You have my word. Now move." He reached behind his back beneath that cape of his and returned his hand with another small device. I recognized it as the thing that held me in my spot as another restraining device, and watched as Mei stepped aside from Vegeta. As soon as it was around Trunks's neck the same turn of events occurred, only this time I got to see it in action instead of being the target. Trunks, obviously still a bit out of it and groggy, awoke a bit due to this sudden jolt of movement against his will. He winced as his arms were forced behind and bound tightly. Just as the same with me, a small but strong spear like hook ejected from the cuffs themselves, and drove in to the wall behind him as he sat on the floor now, Trunks's knees bent slightly upright ahead of him.

"Oblige a small request from an old Seiyajiin, Vegeta, and stop punching holes in my ship." I was getting annoyed. The old girl was already in need of some repairs, and now I have new spots to fix because of our situation.

Vegeta smirked. "As long as you behave I won't have to then." He walked away from Mei and over to the console of the ship. "I **obviously** am not stupid enough to release you to fly the ship."

"Fly the ship? Are you serious?" I hadn't realized that I was trying to move away from the wall again, but was reminded quickly and stopped. "So you're taking me and my ship I see."

He eyed the keys a bit, and then his face looked as if he was processing what to do. He gazed back at Mei who was standing still in front of Trunks, and saw Neko behind me, still growling. "You, lock the animal in the cargo hold below. I'm assuming that there is one on board?"

Mei darted her eyes back to me, a bit more fear now in her than from before. I didn't like what he was asking, but understood the logic.

"Do it, Mei. It's alright." With that from me, she left Trunks's side and walked past me, retrieving Neko and lead her to the back of the ship. "Let the girl go, Vegeta. She doesn't have anything to do with the three of us." I desperately wanted her off this ship, whether she made the deal with him or not with Trunks.

"You brought her in this when you asked her to meet you here for _that_." He replied, his hand gesturing to Trunks without even turning around.

"Well, would you at least have the decency to –."

" '_He's not what he's…supposed to be…eh' "_

I must have hit my head hard when I was shoved, because now I was hearing Trunks's voice in my head, but he wasn't speaking in front of me! Then I remembered something from way back when I was in my younger days. Seiyajiins had learned long ago to communicate with each other with out vocalizing their words by using their Ki power, and concentrating their thoughts to another Seiyajiin. I had almost forgotten the art because no one else had any knowledge of this trick that I could use this tool. Never the less, I focused on Trunks's small Ki and used my own to push my thoughts back to him. "_What do you mean? Trunks, why is your father fighting you?"_

" '_He doesn't realize what he's doing . . . he's under . . . someone else's control . . .' "_

"_Who's?" _I wasn't aware of a capable being that could sub due someone against their will under mind control still alive today. This notion seemed impossible!

" '_Cooler . .' "_

I blinked harshly and jerked my head to look at Trunks as soon as this was revealed to me. His head was hung, rendered useless to the wall as I was, his purple locks of hair quivering slightly. _"He's alive?"_

" ' _Very much. He came to our home planet a few years ago and –' " _Trunks stopped as Vegeta had walked over and knelt down, grabbing the back of head, lifting his face to see his own.

"You're not allowed to die once we enter hyper space, so use that will to fight for your own life, boy, and not for anything else. Other wise I WILL kill that girl and old man where they stand and keep you alive myself. They're alive for that purpose." These words from the prince, no, now King of Seiyajiins, were so cold and heartless, it struck even me a bit, let alone how they impacted the young man staring into the face of the force that spoke them.

Trunks's narrowed his eyes, looking right back at his oppressor. "Still just . . . following orders aren't you?" He stopped and shut his eyes, shaking slightly, and then stared at Vegeta again.

"Do you understand what I just said, boy? I didn't track you down to some back water planet just to have you die in space."

"What? Enter space? When?" Mei was back in the room, watching the scene in front of us.

"Immediately. Before the space ports open. We won't have to wait for clearance from any air towers." Vegeta replied, releasing Trunks from his grip, standing back to his feet.

"And how do expect to manage that? This is a pretty old ship. What, you're going to fly it?" I interjected.

"Nope. You're going to direct in telling _her_ how to." Vegeta coldly responded, pointing to Mei.

Now I KNEW he was crazy. Mei couldn't fly the ship! Even if I had given her a lesson or two before hand, having me verbally directing her was ridiculous. "She's a doctor, Vegeta. She's never flown a ship before. You're asking for the impossible, and even if I could try –"

"Don't play coy with me, old man. All I have to do is get this heap in space, enter the coordinates to where I need to go to my first check point, and so on. Once we arrive where I want to go, the receiving ship will take care of the rest." Vegeta interrupted me.

I felt my face flourish with anger, because there wasn't any way in hell I was going to go through with this. I would rather fly the ship myself than to keep Mei on board and making her try this. "Forget it. Besides, going to space at this moment is signing the child's death warrant." I said, gesturing with my head towards Trunks's direction.

"Then she's got her work cut out for her, doesn't she?"

"You take him to space and you WILL lose him!" Mei's eyes were almost filled with tears.

"Just do as he asks . . . Haido-san . . ." Trunks interfered. I closed my eyes for a moment when hearing this, and recalled the scene from last night in the sick bay. I wasn't surprised that he was asking me to do this, because I **now** knew what he was referring to last night. This whole mess with his father not knowing who he is and fighting against him. It explained why he had so many wounds. Cooler had found the ultimate weapon to use against Trunks for whatever purpose he was aiming for to acclaim from the kid. It was baneful and sinister to use his own father against him, something Trunks couldn't willfully make himself fight back against.

Vegeta slightly smirked, crossing his arms as he looked down at him. "Finally learning your position I take it."

"I won't have any more blood other than my own on my hands." Trunks glared back. "No matter_ who_ it is."

"If I can get us in…" Mei stopped to swallow." In space, you have to fix this arrangement with Trunks because I can't even get another IV in with him this way once we enter hyper space."

"Mei, this is insane. Do you realize what you're saying?" I was now begging her to now even entertain the idea of her trying to raise the Korna on her own.

She just half smiled at me. "You offered a flying lesson last night, didn't you?" She stood beside me now looking at me with those deep blue eyes. Surely she was afraid of what was happening, but this bravery in her was a first for me to see.

"This isn't exactly what I had in mind! Mei, I never wanted to –" I started but stopped when she knelt down in front of me, wrapping one arm around her knees, and placed two fingers on my nose.

"I'm scared, Haido-kun. I haven't had a patient to die on me willingly yet." She interrupted quietly. "I've lost patients before yea but if I don't do this, it will be a death on my hands. I can't handle that." She was in that mode I wasn't used to. Right now I didn't like it. I wanted my bubbly silly little girl Mei back, not this Dr. Akagi one, thinking about her responsibilities. "I know you can talk me through it." With that she rose up, and made her way towards the console, passing Vegeta on her left. "You might want to grab a seat, or don't blame me if you fall on your ass during take off."

I wasn't going to have this. I closed my eyes and tried to break away one last time, sending the volts sparking again. "I am NOT telling you how to run this ship, whether you want to pilot this ship or not, Mei. You let her go and leave her here on Miranda and I'll pilot the damn thing!" I wrestled a bit more, and then finally had to stop because now the shocks were actually starting to hurt more. A sudden flare of a Ki power grabbed my conscious and I watched as Vegeta grabbed Mei's left arm with his right, and simultaneously formed some sort of small energy ball with his left hand. Mei's cry filled the Korna as he held it only inches from her side.

Trunks's Ki flared as well. "NO! Leave her alone!"

"You need to figure out how we're going to get along, right here, right now. You know as well as I do that I can still hurt her, but not bad enough to where she CAN'T fly this ship." Vegeta growled towards me. "And stop wasting your breath, you fool. Power down. You have nothing left in you anyways." He scolded Trunks. "And I've told you before, you are a Seiyajiin, a threat, as is the boy, so you stay put, old man."

The anger in me was building, and I wasn't even aware that my Ki had shot up enough by this gesture to make my own spiky locks sway to and fro. Mei, however, as scared as she looked, took notice of my actions. "Haido-kun please…" she pleaded. Her eyes were full of fright, and I didn't want that anymore. If I wanted her to be safe, I was just going to have to take her out of harms way, and let her sit in that pilot's seat. At least she is more safe piloting this old ship, than in the clutches of Vegeta with his Ki as high as it was.

I powered down, and took a long pause to breathe, and exhaled, calming my nerves. Damn, now is one of those moments where a cigarette would be good. "Release her, Vegeta, please just don't harm her. I'll tell her how to pilot the ship and then I'll have her set it in auto pilot to jump into hyper space. Just, let her arm go and power down yourself." It was like knives striking my stomach to even utter the words. Sure, I knew how to fly the Korna on instinct by now, but talking someone through it was not going to be an easy task. "I assume you expect to make it out before we can be questioned with clearance, and you're wrong. They operate on a twenty four hour cycle on Miranda. I'm going to need Mei to use her phone for a voice command recording for me for the tower. They record that type of thing." I watched as Vegeta powered himself down, his hand releasing Mei's captive arm, and he closed his fist canceling out the small energy ball with a smirk.

"Really? Is it THAT air tight?" Mei was shocked, rubbing her arm with her other hand, glancing only at Vegeta for a second, and her eyes were back to me.

"Annoyingly so. Security here is tip top, although with _him_ making it in unseen is a wonder to me." I gestured to warrior to the side of her with a nod.

"I didn't use the Space Ports, obviously." Vegeta responded. He seemed agitated for half a second, and was at Trunks's side almost instantly. He moved so fast I didn't even catch it! He's gained so much power than I remembered him to be. He took hold of Trunks's shirt collar, who's attention he had from this entire time. "Do you REALLY want me to knock your ass out in order to get you under control? You're wounded enough as it is, boy. Power down, now…"

"Trunks… you asked me to do as asked, and I'm heading you to take your own advice." I shifted my weight slightly, as I felt his Ki was still trying to rise.

"I.. but–"

I quickly interrupted him. "Trunks…"

His face filled with torment, but then he settled in, sinking into the wall behind away from his father as he powered down completely. He hung his head low and Vegeta released his shirt from his tight grasp. "Understood."

Vegeta stood to his feet once more and stared down at his prisoner. "The sooner you come to terms with the situation you're in boy, the better off you'll be with this trip...and dealing with me." He readjusted his cape around his neck, and looked back without turning his body to Mei. "Get this heap in the air."


	9. Chapter 8

Chapter 8

I watched as Mei situated herself at the pilot's seat, and studied the layout before her_. "I'm sorry...I-"_ a voice rang in my head again. It was Trunks using his ki to speak only to me, and my eyes jumped from Mei to him. I couldn't believe this was the same child beside me, in the same position that I was in, who just moments ago went toe to toe with Vegeta. It seemed his surge of power had disappeared from him, and he was just as frail and vulnerable as he was when I found him back with the Nestors. His head was still hung down, arms behind him, legs outstretched with his knees slightly bent upwards. He weakly tried to pick his head up to look at me, but he just couldn't muster the strength to do so. In defeat and with a small utterance of pain, he dropped his head back down, his locks of purple shaking. _"I never meant for anyone...else to..get caught up in this."_ he continued. "_You've only tried to help-I_.." Another wince from him was heard, and it even drew Vegeta's attention as he glanced down only for a mere second at him.

"_Don't concern yourself about that right now, lad. Just-"_ Vegeta's sudden stepping away from Trunks stopped my thoughts to the boy as I noticed the warrior was making his way closer to Mei. "Mei. Look in front of you and you'll see a green toggle switch with other toggle switches that are red beside it. Flip the green one up, and the middle one you need to flip up as well." I was nervous that Vegeta was getting impatient and I wasn't sure what his movement had been for. I settled on the idea of her trying to pilot the ship and continued on as I watched Vegeta stop in the doorway of the canteen area.

Mei moved her left hand and found the toggles I spoke of, and with her tiny finger she did as asked. The rattling of the engine starting of the ship was a familiar sound to me, but not to Mei as her eyes blinking as if it startled her. "What about the security settings? Won't they ask me something before we leave?" she asked as she lightly grabbed the throttle in front of her.

"Yes they will send over some information about flight status, exits and random weather information. When the touch screen to the right of you pings, just hit accept on anything they send to you. Let the engine run for a few more minutes before we start that process of sending the tower a request for take off." I breathed deeply, and exhaled slowly, shutting my eyes for a moment as I tried to visualize what to tell her next. I turned my gaze to Vegeta one last time, and saw him resting right his hand on the door frame, his body only a few feet from Trunks. "Are you certain you want her to do this. If they suspect anything out of order-"

"Then I highly suggest you don't make it suspicious for the sake of your friend here." Vegeta coldly interrupted, his hand flipping up towards Mei. His glare towards me felt as if it shot directly through my chest.

I took another deep breath as I closed my eyes, viewing the console of the ship in my head again. A familiar buzzer from the console of the Korna grabbed my attention as I looked to the front of the ship to recognize the sound as the tower hailing the ship. Now I was nervous. If the flight deck so much as had a notion that something was out of line, they surely would board the ship with out hesitation. That was going to be interesting to explain, the child and myself restrained adjacent to the wall. Then all hell would likely break loose because I would imagine the Seiyajiin warrior would just use that invasion of privacy as an excuse to destroy anyone in his way today. Mei's face was tormented with worry as her ice blue eyes locked onto mine as the buzzer echoed in the ship's cockpit. Her jet black locks of hair swayed as she tried to regain her bravery and she stared at the touch screen in front of her. "Mei, just turn the volume up on the call as loud as you can, and stay as still as possible in the chair. I don't want them believing anyone else is on board. Turn the dial in the upper left hand corner of the console to your right, near the speaker." I continued. Another slight muffle from Trunks caught my ear, and my eyes shifted to him again. "You're going to have to bear it, Lad."

His eyes never opened, but his face was certainly readable even though he said not a word at this time. He's hurting, and it was going to be difficult for him to follow suit with what I asked of Mei. "I-I will…" the young man spoke in broken words through the pain he was enduring, his head slightly hanging lower as he spoke the best he could.  
"You're going to have to fix that, you know that, don't you? He can't breathe." Mei interrupted, staring harshly now at Vegeta. The buzzer still rang through out the air , and it seemed she was ignoring it now due to her feelings of what she spoke about. The two exchanged stares, she and Vegeta, for what it seemed like an eternity.

Vegeta merely crossed his arms and smirked at her. "I told you we'll take care of that, woman. Now answer the damn tower, that noise is maddening." His eyes glanced back to Trunks below him, and for a brief moment, I witnessed an expression on Vegeta of which I was uncertain of its meaning. The poor boy was shaking every other few seconds now, trying to console his wounds to himself quietly. "ANSWER the call." Vegeta demanded, shaking his head a bit, as if he was trying to regain his powerful stature. I wasn't sure what exactly had come across in the mind of this man, but one thing I was learning. I looked at Trunks again, who was still shaking, and it was extremely visible now, his purple locks quivering violently. _This boy is distracting to you, isn't he, Vegeta-sama. And you can't figure out why…_ I thought to myself as I gazed back to the bigger man. 

Mei's small hand lifted to the touch screen and her index finger lightly pressed the laminate on the console. Her eyes turned to me as we all heard the dispatcher on the speakers of the Korna rebounding inside the ship.

"Good day, sir Ranuk Le`rule. I take it you enjoyed your stay on Miranda. Would you like any further information on the weather or flight patterns at this time? And also please be advised that you need to submit your landing permit information if you are requesting take off at the end of this call. How can I help you this morning?" the young female voice spoke.  
"Yes, good morning, my lady. I request no further information on weather, and I don't require any further flight information, my dear. I greatly appreciate the offer." I was speaking as loud as I could from where I sat on the floor, perhaps 10-15 feet away from the console of the ship. Maybe even more. I was always terrible about judging how far away I was from something.

"Very well sir, ummm" her voice trailed off. "It's rather difficult to hear you. Are you requesting take off commencement today?"

"Ugh, yes I am, I'm afraid." I spoke louder.

"You requested the lot for a week sir. Would you like for me to bill the refund back to banking information you used upon entering the space port?"

"Oh that would be wonderful dear."

"One moment and I'll send over the information. Also, as a precaution, are you exporting any materials at this time? Before I transfer your request to the security office?" she asked.

_Yes, I have a doctor who's hell bent on an adventure, a child that I'm STILL unaware of his predicament, and the man who's placed him there who's certain to kill us all if I don't hurry this call along, _I thought to myself as I tried to obtain some sort of calmness in this insanity. "No, nothing at all I'm afraid. My trip is cut short due to some family emergency off planet." An audible wince from Trunks again stole my eyes once more, and my heart ached for him as I tried to look forward away from him. "That will be all thank you.." I tried to over speak him, attempting to cast an audible shadow over him. I looked again to the lad, and he shook vigorously again, his mouth clenched with his eyes tightly closed.

"Alright, thank you Sir Le'rule. I'll convene the information for immediate flight initiation right away and thank you for choosing Port Miranda City Space Cooperation." With that, the kind voice was gone, and only light music played on the speakers, only for a few moments.

Vegeta's glare turned from the console of the ship back to Trunks. "Get it together, boy." He coldly ordered. Trunks merely swallowed his breath, and opened his eyes only to look the ground in front of him. He showed no fear to the threatening voice above him and sat still as could be, his chest rising as he inhaled deeply. He exhaled, trembling as he continued to stare at the floor, his eyes unwavering. This lasted only a few seconds, and his head was forced down again seemingly against his will, eyes shutting tight again, unable to hide his anguish as he quivered.

"Sir Le`rule? You've GOT to be kidding me." Mei swung half way around on the pilots chair to be sure I noticed her unsatisfied expression. "That's your cover?"

"An alias is an alias, none the less, Mei." I smiled nervously as shifted my body weight slightly attempting to get comfortable, if that was even possible on this steel floor.

" Yea, well, I'm going to write you some new names. That's horrible-" Mei's sentence was stopped by the sudden silence in the room as the soft music came to a halt. Her head swirled back to the console in front of her, her hands lightly clasped together on her chest.

"This is flight deck T195-23 sending confirmation of request of air travel. Do you have the landing permits and documents ready to transfer back to our tower?" a deep male voice boomed. I could see a blanket of panic cover Mei's expression at first, because I hadn't told her anything of the sort.  
"Yes, the permit license is number 000956132-12, processing for flight code A532B…"I said aloud, my voice as thunderous as the dispatcher. "I can send them to you after the call, as the lady requested. Forgive an old spacer, my friend; I'm still trying to finish my pre-flight checks around the ship. Ship's name is Lady Utella. Model is Turuk 1504B color hunter green. Delivery cargo and outbound cargo are negative."

"And state your name for the com sir?"

"Ranuk Le`rule."

"Thank you, sir. Please wait while the tower processes your information and will give you the green shortly." And with that the soft music was serenading us again.

I exhaled to myself, relieved that things were going so well and nothing seemed to be seen out of order to them. "Mei, you remember what screen I was on at the console to look up…." I stopped and glanced over to Trunks. "….the bounty logs?" I watched as she slid her upper torso over to the left and found the screen that I spoke of. "Type 'Port Miranda' and the information they need should pull up, and hit ok to send it." Mei did as directed and a small beep echoed lightly from the screen.

Another murmur of discomfort was heard from Trunks, and Vegeta's sudden movement caught my eye as he leaned over Trunks while reaching beneath his cape with his left hand. This also drew Mei's attention from the pilot seat as she slightly turned her head to watch Vegeta return his hand from a pocket (I assumed) with two small vials, square and almost thin like in shape with rubber tops on them. Vegeta kneeled down beside Trunks and simultaneously grabbed the boy by his left back side of the head. Trunks seemed to try to resist this at first, but with a small cry of agony he gave in to Vegeta, who forced it to the side revealing the restraint that was attached to Trunks's neck.

"Continue on, old man…" He snapped, as his thumb pushed over a square "door" revealing a tiny compartment of some kind. He stuck both glass capsules inside, next to each other and slid the tiny square door back into its place.

A beep from Trunks's neck echoed in the ship. "What is that?" Mei asked as she rose forward to leave the seat. "You can't give him anything else! You don't know-".

"I know what I am doing, woman. You worry yourself over the ship, not the boy. Mind your first task!" Vegeta bellowed out at her, and snapped something on the restraint within his grasp.

"Ah, don't…" Trunks tried to shy away from Vegeta's grip as this contraption clicked onto his neck making him groan out loud from the prick of needle on the inside of the collar like device. Vegeta's grip stood firm and he waited until Trunks's eyes looked heavy, his body giving way to the concoction of what was sent into his veins. His head collapsed backwards, forcing Vegeta to catch it with in his hand, as Trunks's body limply allowed gravity to pull him down. It seemed so uncharacteristic for the mighty warrior to use his hand to cradle the boy's head, and using his right arm to carry the rest of Trunks's body weight. Vegeta placed the lad on his right side laying him on the cold floor of the ship, hands still captured as to Vegeta's liking with the restraints behind his back. Trunks rested there against his will of course, quivering to some degree still, wincing every now and then. "What…what did…" his words were lost as his head shook when he lowered it closer to his chest still wreathing from his wounds.

"Be quiet, whelp. I'm doing you a favor and also making sure you don't have the strength to be stupid and try to pull another heroic stunt again." Vegeta snarled as he stood to his feet, sneering down at the teen. He turned his gaze from Trunks to Mei as Vegeta crossed his arms and walked back to the door way of the canteen area. "You wanted me to adjust his arrangement, did you not?" he barked at Mei, resting his back on the left side of the door frame. "I trust that this will suffice for the time being."  
Mei turned her eyes from Vegeta's stare and pleaded with my own. "Now what do I do?" she asked.

"Flip the two bright red switches above your left hand side on the console above your head. After that initiate auto gravity right before we release the auto-port function." I watched as she flipped the two corresponding switches to her left above her head, and the cockpit came alive, igniting the full auto pilot into play, ready to go. "The release for the auto-port is the yellow knob right below the engine starter toggle. You'll see the letters APR right below it. Hit that as soon as we get confirm-". My sentence was interrupted by the sudden silence of the soft music that echoed through the body of the ship.  
"Lady Utella Model Turuk 1504B, this is your flight deck responding. You are now cleared for the launch of your ship. Please be advised to the air control requests for confirmation after this transmission. You are required as per your ship's model to take off from your current position. You are now good to go, Lady Utella and have a pleasant flight back to your next destination."

"Thank you, dear sir and a happy rest of the day to you as well." I answered in a boisterous voice. A click in the transmission echoed in the ship and the com was clear, quiet, and left us in the hands of an edgy Seiyajiin warrior. "Mei, gently take the throttle, and pull it gently up from the floor until it clicks, & that will initiate the bottom thrusters to start off." I watched as she quickly found the seat belt of the pilot's seat and buckled herself in. Her tiny hands cradled the throttle, and she lifted it up until the noise popped from the gear shift in her possession. She blinked harshly in surprise and loosened her grip for a few seconds, but then retightened her hands around the throttle. "It's just a big video game, dear." I tried to reassure her as I knew we all felt the ship rattle and slightly rumble beneath our feet. "Now gently pull back on the throttle, and that will lift us up. Once we are out of the atmosphere the Korna will sound an alarm telling you that you can put her from Manual to Auto Pilot."

"What if there is another ship up above me?!" Mei's head slightly turned to try to see me, but realized she could not. she then turned her nervous gaze back in front of her. "I can't see anything above me!" The Korna's engines still purred as we were still hovering in the courtyard.

"It'll let you know way ahead of time by the monitor to the right of you on the windshield of the ship. If something's in your way, turn the stick right to go right, and left to go left." Now I was the one getting more nervous than she was. This whole thing was ludicrous. I was more angry that I had allowed myself to be stuck in this position in the first place, apprehended to a damn wall of my own ship. I looked to my right, and watched Trunk's head still shaking, along with his body. He was still lying on the floor of the ship on his right side. My gaze turned to Vegeta, who I had no idea was studying me, and we locked eyes for a moment. His cold stare only lasted a few seconds which seemed like minutes to me, and then with a scoff he turned his head back to Mei.

Mei pulled back as told on the throttle, and the Korna lifted herself from the port, her engines roaring ready to leave the ground. I stretched my neck to strive to look out the windshield to see what Mei was seeing as she steadily lifted the vessel into the air. An alarm beeping from the monitor I had mentioned earlier rang out and was warning of an over head air craft. "Oh my...ok. It's just a big video game. It's just a big video game." Mei whimpered as she chose to go to the right as she continued to pull back the throttle. The Korna did as told and easily avoided the oncoming aircraft which was now to our left as we continued to rise. "Oh my god, the space port looks tiny! I don't know if I can do-"

"You're alright Mei you're almost done just keep pulling it back we're almost there dear." My heart was about to burst from pain of having her endure this. I know she was

scared, and I was afraid for her myself, knowing she's never experienced this sort of thing in her life. All I wanted was my doctor friend to be out of harms way and I had only led her into the very thing I fought to defend her against. Suddenly, I felt my body start to rise on its own. I grabbed one of the base board piping behind me with my restrained hands and tried to use my foot to steady myself to the floor, but it was useless. I looked over to Trunks as he too was beginning to rise from the steel ground of the Korna. "Trunks grab the pipes behind you!" I yelled. "Mei! The gravity on the ship! You forgot to hit the switch!" I watched as a shocked Seiyajiin warrior standing in the door way of the canteen area grabbed the door frame itself, as Vegeta kept himself grounded with both his hands. A static charge resounded in the air as I looked back to Trunks, who was unable to grab the piping. He couldn't move at all it seemed, as his body was off the ship's floor and his hands were being forced apart by the movement against his will. Shocks of electricity jolted him as he winced in pain from all of this, and couldn't do anything to stop it.

"WHAT DO I DO, WHAT DO I DO! Haidokun! Some one get him, he's not going to be able to take that much-" Mei stopped as another alarm forced her eyes back from Trunks to the windshield. She veered the ship left, avoiding another aircraft coming into Isley's orbit.

To my surprise, Vegeta left his post from the door way with a simple push from the frame. He landed in front of the teen and grabbed Trunks by the collar of his shirt, forcing him back down onto the floor. By keeping his right hand's grip on the boy, Vegeta grabbed the small piping at the base of the floor, forcing themselves back to the ground level. The jolts ceased, and Trunks now sat on the floor against the side of the ship as Vegeta knelt with him. The lad's head fell onto the larger Seiyajiin's left arm, resting it as Vegeta held tightly to the wall behind his prisoner. "Push the damn gravity knob for the ship, woman!" he bellowed out slightly turning his head to try to look at Mei.

Mei scrambled to find the knob, and pushed it in excitedly as she found it. I could see the blackness of space out the windshield as my lower half fell to the floor with a thud. I looked over and the pair beside me also had fell to the floor of the ship. My eyes turned back to Mei who was still slightly upset. "I'm so sorry I forgot the gravity!"

"Mei it's alright dear. We're out of the orbit now so slowly release the throttle and she'll hover right where we are." I used my foot to slide myself up back into place against the wall. I glanced to my left and watched as Vegeta released Trunk's shirt, and again laid him on his right side on the grounds of the ship.

Trunks looked up, with one eye only this time, at Vegeta as he stood up away from him. "I...I can't..." he could barely get the words out.

"You can't move. Yes, that's exactly the point." Vegeta coldly finished his sentence. "If you would behave and just do as told I wouldn't have to go to these lengths. You give me no choice. If you-" Vegeta stopped and seemed bothered, blinking sharply. Trunk's audible wincing was hard to miss, as he bent his head lower, closer to his body. The poor child's gasps were cruel to listen to, and Mei was nearly in tears as I watched her head and upper body swing around in the pilot's seat.

"I told you he can't breathe!" her voice cracked in panic.

"Set the coordinates! Tell her how, old man, NOW!" He yelled at her, and then to me. Vegeta was kneeling down again with Trunks, for what reason I couldn't see from where I was sitting.

"Mei, on the screen you used to sign off for the tower. Touch that and look for HDCD. In put the numbers he tells you to." I turned my eyes from her back to Vegeta. "Tell her."

"X5471." He stated as he reached behind Trunk's with both hands with his own. A small click was heard and the warrior removed his left hand from behind the boy's back. He tucked his same hand then under Trunk's chest, and then under his side. I watched in agony as the teen's head lifted upwards from this gesture, trying to bear his wounds, crying out softly for just a moment in pain. "Next line is Y2413." Vegeta continued for Mei. To my amazement, Vegeta had released Trunk's right hand from the left, and had it by the wrist as he drug his arm out from under the lad's body, lying him now on his back. "I swear kid, if you try anything stupid..." Vegeta scolded as he then reconnected Trunk's limp hand with his left, rolling him on to his left side. A click was heard again from the restraints, and the boy's wincing again did not fall on deaf ears as all of this happened so quickly. Trunks now laid on the floor of the Korna on his left side, hands restrained in front of him, to the wall of the ship. He curled his head downwards, his forehead slightly touching the backs of his hands, still hurting from all this sudden movement on his pain stricken body. He swallowed harshly and continued to breathe heavily, as he still trembled no doubt from exhaustion and the coldness of the beginning of space out of the orbit of Isley.

"Okay, now what?" Mei asked as she stared at the controls in front of her.  
"Hit engage, and take the 'T' shaped handle that is to the right of the throttle, and push it in tune with the mark down that appears on the console where you entered the coordinates. By the time you push it all the way up, the count down will be at zero on the screen." I watched from my spot on the ground as she did as told, and soon the stars of space started to morph into the lines of black and white. Mei literally yelped aloud as the ship kicked into auto pilot and slammed into hyper space, heading towards the first rendezvous point. It was deathly quiet now, in the deadness of space as the Korna sped fast to her next destination. Words can not express the feeling I had deep down in my soul, especially as Mei unbuckled herself from the pilots chair. This was beginning to be a nightmare from hell, something I never imagined in all my long days to ever witness or find myself in the middle of. But I had to stand my grounds as best as I could and keep Mei from harm. I also knew I had to get Trunks out of this debacle as well. The safest thing to do now was not to piss off the now king of Seiyajiins, and find out what the hell was going on as soon as I could.


End file.
